RONI HIRVONEN A LEAFS PLAYER NAME TO REMEMBER

Équipe: 2022-23 Maple Leafs de Toronto

Date de création initiale: 10 août 2022

Publié: 10 août 2022

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

The Maple Leafs and Kyle Dubas may have hit another home run outside of the first round of the NHL Draft when they drafted Roni Hirvonen from Finland in the 2nd round and 59th overall in the 2020 NHL draft.

He is a tenacious competitor and big time leader and reminds me a bit like Dave Keon, a former Leafs alltime great because of his smaller size and the way he plays the game. He is a highly competitive player that gets involved in all three zones and leads by example and never takes a shift off. He plays quick and fast and is primarily a playmaker but can also finish and is willing to go to the tougher areas on the ice to generate offense. He has the potential to be a middle six centre or possible top six winger with the potential to provide alot of energy and kill penalities in the National Hockey League.

He had a strong 2021 World Junior tournament finishing with six points in seven games and scored the game winning goal in the quarter finals against Sweden and took a big step forward this past season with 26 points in 46 games for HIFK of Finland's top pro league playing in a man's league as a 19 year old.

He is going to have another great chance to show case himself in the 2022 World Juniors and is wearing the "C" for Finland and had a tremendous first game tonight in the tournament picking up 3 points in a win for his team.

He is a very under the radar hockey player whose prospect value continues to rise in the hockey world and looks like a tremendous draft choice by the Maple Leafs and may be available to the team for the 2022-2023 playoffs.