[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Saku's Boy Edition):

If there was an award for the most improved player in the 2024 NHL Draft, the trophy would surely go to Saku's son, RHC Aatos Koivu. He wasn't even on the radar last year, with only 7 points in 20 games in the U18 Sarja with TPS, and even spent 2 games in the U18 Mestis- the secondary league at the U18 level, so his rise has been nothing short of meteoric. His 2022-23 season was also limited to 30 games due to injury. This season, he has shuffled between the U18 level (22 points in 20 games), the U20 (31 points in 28 games, 5th in scoring for U-18 players), and even the Liiga (4 games, no points), and is as late-blooming as you can get, growing 6 inches over the last two seasons. He now measures 6'0" (some say he's 6'1"), weighs in at 165lbs, and is still quite young with a June 22nd birthday. Koivu centered the top line for Finland at the most recent 5 Nations, where he tied for 10th overall in scoring with 3 points in 4 games, and is currently in the playoffs with TPS' U20 squad, posting 6 points in 6 games.

As one can deduce, Koivu is still very much physically raw, and I can't imagine that going through a growth spurt like the one he has experienced would be easy, or good for one's co-ordination. Still, his top asset might just be his skating, with superb first-step quickness and acceleration, to go with a separation gear at top speed, and smooth edges for balance and agility. Koivu has flashes of playmaking ability, but leans more into his goal-scoring ability, as he owns a dangerous shot that he can pick corners with, and a release that fools goalies. His wrister could use more zip, but he can uncork an absolutely blistering one-timer that is hard to stop, and is already NHL-quality. He's good in-close too, with soft hands, and the moves to deke a netminder out of his jockstrap. As far as passing goes, he doesn't really do anything that would qualify as being too dynamic, and though he has a fair amount of smarts and awareness, he keeps it fairly simple. Like his father, Aatos is scrappy and plays with a big chip on his shoulder- he's ultra competitive, aggressive, and tough to play against. He finishes his checks, throws hits to dislodge pucks, and battles hard in the greasy areas. He is effective in transition, and can make clean entries with possession. He has shown the ability to pass off the rush, or attack the middle to shoot. On the forecheck, he catches up to puck-carriers quickly, and makes life difficult for them, taking away time and space.

Koivu's defensive game is in need of improvement, and he himself acknowledges that fact. He shows good puck-pursuit, and can cause turnovers on occasion that he then turns into offensive rushes, but he lacks composure, and tends to rush things when pressured. He doesn't always know where to be, and can be caught puck-watching from time-to-time. His overall IQ and awareness has been called into question, with some saying that he needs to speed up his processing, and use his teammates more. Koivu needs to add a lot more strength and bulk, as he can be overpowered in puck battles, and knocked off the puck- adding more muscle will help him in front of the net, as well. His stickhandling could use a tune-up, as he can overhandle the puck in flight, which leads to turnovers. Some of these issues could be tied to how much he's grown physically in such a short time, as it must cause some co-ordination problems, but he seems to have the right attitude, character, and mindset to improve his weaknesses and become an NHLer, as well as a fantastic support system in his corner. McKenzie has him ranked 60th, which is the late 2nd-round- I could definitely see that happening, but I'm going to guess early 3rd round.