Dating back to 2013, the Calgary Flames have turned three first round picks into NHL regulars – Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. Despite some recent injury speed bumps, Juuso Valimaki is poised to become the fourth as he’s currently dominating Finnish pro hockey.
Valimaki repeats as the top prospect of the Calgary Flames per our annual staff rankings for the third consecutive year.
How did we get here?
A product of Nokia, Finland, Valimaki grew up playing in the Ilves organization in neighbouring Tampere, Finland. He became a prospect of some renown in Finland, usually playing a year or two above his actual age.