A closer look at Juuso Valimaki

Typically when picking in the middle of the first round, an NHL team can expect to get a skilled but flawed player. Many “boom or bust” prospects slide out of the top 10 because of some perceived personality problem or because they lack at least one key ingredient in their game: size, speed, offense, hockey sense, etc.

That doesn’t seem to be the case for the Calgary Flames with Juuso Valimaki. The 18-year-old Finnish defender ticks all the boxes from a qualitative perspective: he has NHL size (6’2″, 210 pounds), and according to most scouting reports, he can skate, he has high hockey IQ, and a solid, well-rounded game.

From a quantitative perspective, Valimaki is even more impressive. In…