Tip of the Tower
Fansided

Toronto Maple Leafs: 2016 World Juniors Recap of Leafs Top Prospects

By James Middleton

Oct 2, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; aToronto Maple Leafs right wing Kasperi Kapanen (71) skates with the puck chased by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (55) in the second period t Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; aToronto Maple Leafs right wing Kasperi Kapanen (71) skates with the puck chased by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (55) in the second period t Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 7
Next
Toronto Maple Leafs
Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Mark Hunter announces Mitchell Marner (not pictured) as the number four overall pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs as commissioner Gary Bettman looks on in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Team Finland:

Olli Juolevi: There isn’t a player in the whole draft who increased his draft stock more than Olli Juolevi. Outside of Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi, he was easily the most impressive defenceman at the World Juniors.

Before this tournament, Juolevi was considered to be a pick somewhere in the middle of the first round (15-20), but now he has a genuine chance to be the first defenceman picked. Moving forward on an absolutely loaded London Knights team, look for him and his teammates to potentially win the OHL and even the Memorial Cup.

More from Tip of the Tower

Despite being a little undersized, the 17-year old displayed an absolutely tremendous mixture of passing and skating throughout this tournament. The World Juniors gave him the platform to prove he is the best defenceman in the draft.

This was shown by his play, and highlighted by the fact Jakob Chychrun did not make Team Canada. Playing 25-30 minutes a game for the gold medal-winning Finns, Juolevi controlled the puck from the back end and allowed the forwards the outlet passes necessary to create offense off the rush.

Juolevi reminds me a lot of a Hampus Lindholm or Olli Maatta. If he has a good year of development next season at the World Juniors and in London, while also adding weight, he could very well could follow a similar path to those two, and be in the NHL by age 19.

Jesse Puljujarvi: What more can be said about Puljujarvi’s world juniors performance? It was absolutely dominant.

This was one of the more memorable individual performances in World Junior history by a draft eligible player (17 points in seven games). It completely blows my mind that this kid is only 17 years old.

In my opinion, following this tournament, he is a guaranteed top two pick, and is a legit challenger to Matthews for number one overall. A tremendous blend of size, speed, hands and playmaking ability, he had everything on display, along with the rest of that top line for the Finns (Sebastian Aho and Patrik Laine).

Kept off the score sheet only once in the tournament (in the semi finals vs. Sweden), Puljujarvi backed up the hype as the next Finnish superstar in the making with a game that resembled Ilya Kovalchuk. Look for him to make a major impact for his future team in the NHL next season.

Next: Patrik Laine and Kasperi Kapanen

Home/Toronto Maple Leafs