Damien Cox will be reporting on the world juniors all tournament long. Here are his thoughts on a few 2016 NHL Draft-eligibles after Day 1 of the tournament.
The line combinations alone provided intrigue on the first day of the world juniors.
The Swedes had two Toronto Maple Leaf draft picks, William Nylander and Dmytro Timashov, playing on a unit with highly regarded Alexander Nylander, the younger brother of William who could be a Leaf by the time the first round of the NHL draft is over in June.
The United States, meanwhile, started its game against Canada with three draft-eligible players—Auston Matthews, Alex DeBrincat and Matthew Tkachuk—all playing on the same line, at least until DeBrincat was tossed for spearing Team Canada winger Travis Konecny.
Then there was Finland. In the middle of their top line was talented Sebastien Aho, a Carolina third round pick last June. But it was the bookends, right winger Jesse Puljujarvi and left winger Patrik Laine, who really got imaginations stirring in Helsinki.
Both are eligible in June, both are expected to be selected in the first hour in Buffalo, and both looked just terrific as the Finns overpowered Belarus 6-0, with all six goals coming in the final frame and a bit.
Puljujarvi and Laine are about the same size, 6-foot-3 and 200 lb. Both are right-handed shots, born 18 days apart in 1998. In Sportsnet’s December draft rankings, Puljujarvi was ranked No. 3 behind Matthews and Tkachuk, with Laine coming in at No. 4.
They are that close. How to choose between them? Assuming Matthews will go first overall in June, at least one team will have that choice, and maybe more. There are differences, although both can score and both can create chances for others with their playmaking.
Laine seems more dynamic, more focussed on scoring, adept at making Alex Ovechkin-like charges to the net from the left side. Puljujarvi seems slightly more polished, comfortable in the middle of the ice, with slightly more of an all-around game that he demonstrated with two goals and an assist, the helper coming on a beautiful goalmouth feed to Laine.
We’ll have to see how they fare against meatier opposition. Puljujarvi has the reputation of being the more consistent player, so we’ll see how much Laine’s performance varies. Puljujarvi also plays on the same Karpat team as Aho, so he may have more familiarity with his centreman than Laine.
They are the latest talented big men out of Finland, a trend that first asserted itself at the 2013 NHL Draft when 6-foot-3 centre Aleksander Barkov was drafted second by Florida and 6-foot-4 defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen went eighth to Buffalo. These are not the small, plucky Finns of yesteryear, ladies and gentlemen.
Every year, there are tough choices to be made at the draft. Noah Hanifin or Mitch Marner. Tyler Seguin or Taylor Hall. Jonathan Drouin or Seth Jones. But rarely are they choices between such similar players from the same country playing on the same line at a major championship event.
The Battle of the Finnish Big Men continues Monday against the Russians.