Last summer, young Finnish defender Juuso Valimaki was slated to be a full-time member of the Calgary Flames in the 2019-20 campaign. Due to a major off-season knee injury he might not play a single game for the club this season.
The Flames’ top pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Valimaki is a supremely poised, confident offensive defender. The product of Nokia, Finland broke into the NHL in 2018-19 as a 20-year-old and split his first pro season between Calgary and the AHL’s Stockton Heat – the main reason he went to the AHL was to rehab after suffering a high ankle sprain last November.