European talent at the NHL Draft - part 1

Just a few days ago the Pittsburgh Penguins have raised the Stanley Cup, but in the background the scouts were already preparing the next event in the NHL calendar. The NHL Draft 2016 will take place in Buffalo on June 24^th/25^th. Like every year Eurohockey takes a look at the top prospects available from Europe.

Patrik Laine (FIN / Tappara Tampere)

For sure the best known player on our list is Tampere native Patrik Laine. At the age of 18 he has already raised a lot of eyebrows over the last years by his impressive play at elite levels. At the age of 16 he made his first games in Finland's top league Liiga for Tappara and could evolve into one of the team's top performers right away. His 33 points in 46 games during regular season were a good start, but 15 more points during 18 playoff games led Tappara to the Finnish Championship and earned Laine the Playoff MVP honors in Finland.

At the turn of the year Laine was the backbone of the Finnish U20 team that dominated the World Championships and eventually won the title. With 7 goals he was the top goalgetter of the tournament. Often compared to Alexander Ovechkin, he indeed scores a lot of his goals from the top of the faceoff circle thanks to his hard and precise one-timer just like the Russian superstar does it.

Ranked 2^nd in the NHL central scouting only behind American Austen Matthews, many experts say he might as well turn out to be the 1^st overall pick in this year's NHL draft since he won the showdown with Matthews at the 2016 IIHF World Championships. In Russia he did not just crack an old record for most points at the World Championships by a U18 player (so far hold by Jaromir Jagr) after only 2 games, he also was voted the tournaments' MVP.

Jesse Puljujärvi (FIN / Kärpät Oulu)

Just one year back Puljujärvi was seen as the top prospect hailing from Finland. His good size at 190cm and a mix of skills and speed make him a great playmaker, which he showed early on in his career. In the 2014/15 season he had already played 21 games for Kärpät Oulu in the top division, collecting 11 points at an age of 17.

This year he finished his first complete season in Liiga and accomplished 28 points (13+15) in 50 games. Kärpät's playoff run ended in the semi-finals against Patrik Laine's Tappara Tampere, yet his participation in the U20 World Championships this year was a total success. With 17 points he finished the tournament as the top scorer and was voted the best forward of the tournament.

He is ranked 3^rd for the Draft among European skaters and we definitely should expect him to go very high. His positive work ethic and his defensive awareness are added value for any club that will choose him, even though he fell behind a bit this year as Matthews and Laine topped his offensive production, which might as well be explainable with Puljujärvi having to fight more for ice-time in an all-star team in Oulu.

German Rubtsov (RUS / Russia U18)

So far Rubtsov has played club hockey only in the MHL, the junior league of the Russian KHL. But the center's output was great. In 28 games he combined for 26 points (12+14). He likes to use his size and is often used against the opponent's top lines since he knows how to play defense very well and does not shy away from physical plays.

On the interntional stage he has seen action at World Championships twice in the 2014/15 season. At the U17 and U18 tournaments he achieved 7 points in a total of 11 games for Russia. The fact that 5 of those were assists, shows that he likes to make plays and find a well positioned teammate first before he shoots.

Rubtsov might go in the first round of the draft and his future coach will get a versatile player.

Pius Suter (SUI / ZSC Lions Zurich)

The highest ranked Swiss player in this year's draft spent the last season in Zurich where he accumulated 25 points in 49 games. The 20-year old center is not the biggest player, but likes to battle for pucks and never gives up.

For two seasons Suter went to Canada, where he learnt a lot in the OHL playing for Guelph Storm. While his first year in North America saw him picking up points only in every third game, the second season made clear which potential he has. 46 goals in 70 games (77 points) were his breakthrough in professional hockey.

If drafted, it should be in a later round, but he can add depth to an NHL team in the future.

Johannes Johannesen (NOR / Stavanger Oilers)

The defenseman from Stavanger is the highest ranked Norwegian eligible in the 2016 NHL Draft. Ranked 64^th among European skaters chances are he might not get picked at all, but the rookie of the year in GET Ligaen might be a good depth addition on the blue line of an NHL club in the future.

Coming over from 2^nd tier club Viking for the 2014/15 season he established himself quickly with the Oilers and could win two championships in the last two seasons. In his first season he split his games between the senior team and the U20 team and represented Norway at the World Junior Division 1A, where he could come up with 2 assists in 5 games.

Last season he collected 21 points (4+17) in 60 games, which caught some attention abroad as well. 6 games in the CHL might have helped with that and consequently he signed a contract with CHL champion Frölunda Gothenburg for the coming season, where he will try to make the next step in his career.

At the IIHF World Championships in Russia he also suited up for Norway in all 7 games and contributed with 2 goals and an assist.

Tweets by @eurohockey