Finnish steals in the NHL Draft 2016

Everyone likes to speculate about first rounds picks and so on, but actually there's nothing more interesting than late round picks in the NHL Draft. Guys like Pekka Rinne, Pavel Datsjuyk, Henrik Zetterberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Ondrej Palat, Mark Stone, Erik Haula, John Klinberg etc. are great examples about successful late round picks. Scouting has improved a lot, obviosly. Nowadays you can't find guys like Datsjuyk or Alfredsson that easily but there have been plenty of good late round picks during the past ten years. John Klinberg, Mark Stone and Ondrej Palat are one of the biggest steals if we are looking at the past Drafts and this kind of findings are in significant role when you're building a winning team.

I listed couple of Finns who are eligible in the becoming NHL Draft and got big steal potential:

Janne Kuokkanen, center: Might get drafted already in the third round but can also slight to the later rounds. If he's available in the sixth round, I would definitely pick him. Smart kid who doesn't have big flaws. Versatile player who can play in all three zones and his offensive potential is huge.

Eetu Tuulola, winger: Might also get drafted before the sixth round but his season wasn't that good which is why he could be available in the sixth or seventh round. He's big forward who got some problems with his skating. But what's important, is that his skating technique is good. Got great puck skills and good vision which makes him really interesting prospect.

Sebastian Repo, winger: Third-year eligible winger who scored 15 goals in the Finnish elite league at this season. That tells something about this kid. He got the size and mobility. He's also quite versatile kid but the reason why I love his game is his shot. His shot is tough and accurate and he likes to use it. I could see him ended up being a reliable 2nd/3rd line winger who could score 40 points per season.

Tarmo Reunanen, d-man: Before this season he was a big name after playing amazing rookie season in the Finnish U20 league. He and Olli Juolevi were the biggest d-man names coming from Finland but Tarmo missed almost whole season due to injury. He's not that big but he's smart kid who do well in all three zones. He got absolutely huge offensive potential.

Ville J?rvinen, d-man: Second-year eligible d-man who used to be a big talent. And he still is but there's no hype anymore around him. He missed his first Draft year because of an injury. He finally returned at this season but missed almost half of the season. I'm pretty sure that he wont get drafted at this year either but he's definitely a great prospect. He's big, he's smart, his puck skills are decent and he got great vision. When he's physically ready, he will be a tremendous allround d-man at some level... Maybe even in NHL.

-Toni Rajam?ki, Finland-based scout.