| Otso Ylitalo | Karpat U20 | U20 SM | L | C | 6’3″ | 176 | Oulu, FIN | 2005 | 2022-2023: C |
NZ’s Director of NHL Scouting Ian Moran says: A player with his size and strength is going to have to be a physical presence every shift for him to have a chance in the NHL. Statistically he had a very good U18 year last year putting up 15 goals and 48 points in 42 games, but he struggled a bit with the pace and decision making at the Hlinka. He is a big body who was able to push players around last year so we will be watching to see if as he gains strength he becomes more of a consistent physical presence against older players. Ylitalo has been out since the end of October so it will be interesting to see if his strength and power have increased.
SM-sarja U20: Karpat vs Lahti, October 28, 2022: Ylitalo is a long and lanky left shot forward who is still growing into his body. He has the size to be a potential NHL draft pick, but we would like to see him finish more body checks and be more difficult to play against rather than attempting a swinging poke check while forechecking. He scored a goal on his lone shot of the game on a bouncing rebound in the slot that he smacked out of mid-air.
Hlinka-Gretzky Cup: Finland vs Czechia, August 6, 2022: Standing at 6’3″ and 176lbs Ylitalo is a left shot forward with an NHL frame who played forth line minutes for U18 Finland. Although he finished with a game low 9:12 in ice time his work along the walls caught our eye as he consistently involved in wall battles, showed the understanding to pin his opponent to the wall and then beat his man into the open ice after his linemates stole the puck. Ylitalo was a willing to battles for ice as a net front presence, but at his sizw we would like to see him take the goalie’s eyes away rather than slide off to the side looking for a tip. He finished the game with 4 giveaways and 1 takeaway.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images