Maple Leafs prospects set for tall ask at World Juniors
Eemili Rasanen
The young Finnish defenceman is also making his debut at the tournament and while there is not a lot of hype around him, he will likely play a bigger role on the blueline.
The 18-year-old is well on his way to establishing a career-high in points with the Kingston Frontenacs with 22 points in 28 games after he had 39 points in 66 games last season.
He has an impressive frame at his age standing at 6-foot-7 209 pounds and yet he has made it a point to improve on his skating which is usually a problem for bigger bodied defencemen.
At the Leafs rookie tournament it was hard to avoid Rasanen with his big frame and he did make an impression on Lamoriello.
“He had an excellent camp and obviously the Finnish federation thinks as highly of him as we do, with the way he’s played in junior,” said Lamoriello. “I don’t know if he’s a shoo-in, but being there and being one of the top players is good for us. He’s a size-and-strength defenceman that also has a bright future.”
Since Canada and Finland play in the same group, Leafs fans can see Rasanen play on Boxing Day at 4:00p.m. ET which should be an entertaining game.
Finland then plays Denmark on the 28th at noon, Slovakia on the 30th at 4:00p.m. ET and finish the preliminary round on New Year’s Eve against the United States at 4:00p.m. ET.