NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Janne Kuokkanen

Get to Know Janne Kuokkanen

Date of Birth: March 17, 1998 (18)
Place of Birth: Catham, ON
Ht: 6’1” Wt: 181 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Center / Left Wing
Team: Karpat (Liiga)

Statistics

What Scouts See

Bill Placzek, DraftSite.com
Fluid long strider who can play a high paced game with skill and creativity. Has impressive offensive capabilities and his ability to make quick decisions is why he verbally runs his teams power play. Versatile enough to play all three forward positions with excellent understanding, agility, and vision. Makes quick decisions. Finds open ice, utilizes his feet and stick to deke opponents, and use his soft hands to give and receive back the puck. Not a speed demon or a player with a heavy shot; just one who can use his quickness, vision, and finesse to make plays. He is good in puck pursuit. He has a fast release. Not a wall guy or one that engages much physically. Not strong on the wall or on the puck in confrontations, mostly because he simply isn’t developed enough physically to be one. Long term developmental prospect.

HockeyProspect.com Black Book
Janne is a really smart for- ward with good mobility and skating technique. He plays a mature two way game and doesn’t have any big flaws, has good hands and can protect the puck from opponents to keep possession going when he doesn’t quickly dish it off to linemates. He has strong vision and he is a playmaker first but has also shown upside in the goal scoring department.

Future Considerations
He moves extremely well with and without the puck. He is a uid skater who keeps his head up, and is always looking to make a play. Kuokkanen works exceptionally hard to retrieve loose pucks, and has a bit of grit to his game. He’s a creative forward who has excellent puck-distribution skills, and loves to one-touch pass the puck. His pass is very powerful and accurate. Kuokkanen’s quick feet and smooth hands are the attributes that stand out the most.

Highlights

NHL Potential
Janne Kuokkanen doesn’t have any single tool impressive enough to become an offensive difference maker at the NHL level, his well rounded, responsible game gives him the potential to become a quality top six two-way center or winger.

Expected Draft Position
There’s a decent range in projecting Kuokkanen’s draft position, with some scouts ranking him in the early 40’s and others all the way in the 80’s. Kuokkanen should come off the board in the mid-2nd or 3rd round.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization
The failure to get professional play out of Conner Bleackley left a significant hole in the Avalanche’s prospect pool when it comes to two-way centermen. Kuokkanen doesn’t have the same upside that Bleackley did on his draft day, he would help to address that need and serve a similar role in the Avalanche’s system as well as in the team’s future as a defensively responsible depth center replacement.