Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen set to follow up dominant first season in Liiga with Finnish club HPK.
For Detroit Red Wings fans looking for a small taste of early hockey before the NHL kicks off their pre-season, one of the franchise's top prospects in 2023 third-round pick Jesse Kiiskinen, will be featured in the season opener for Liiga on Tuesday.
The Finnish Elite League is one of the highest pro hockey league's in the world with Kiiskinen entering his second season with Finnish club, HPK. The 20-year-old Finnish winger is coming off a solid first season in the league in which he recorded a near point-per-game average with 44 points (14 goals, 30 assists) through 46 regular season games. This was the second-most points by a 19-year-old in Liiga since Anaheim Ducks winger Mikael Granland in 2009.
Kiiskinen originally wasn't Detroit's prospect but was instead drafted by Nashville. A draft day trade saw the Red Wings trade their 2023 second-round pick in defenseman Andrew Gibson to the Predators for Kiiskinen and a 2024 second-round pick. The move appears to be a success so far for both sides as Kiiskinen is developing quite nicely while Gibson is getting ready to make the jump to pro hockey this upcoming season.
Kiiskinen has inserted himself into the conversation of Detroit's top prospects following his stellar play on several national teams for Team Finland. He even represented his country at last year's World Junior Championships. Kiiskinen played a major factor in Finland walking away with a silver medal as he posted six goals and one assists for seven points through as many games.
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The Red Wings were impressed with his performance and rewarded him with an entry-level deal last June that will keep him with the team until the end of the 2027-28 season. Through early pre-season action, we've seen Kiiskinen continue to dominate and could mean a jump to pro hockey next season as he's still on a Finnish contract for this upcoming season.
Kiiskinen's play has been described from scouting reports as physical and hard-checking with his large 6-foot-1 frame that could use a little bit more weight. His great hands help give him extra space but it was noted by some that his shot needs improvement. This shouldn't be a concern however, as Kiiskinen noted in an off-season interview that he loves to shoot and would even consider himself a "shoot-first player."
Not to say he doesn't also set up plays and record assists but he mentioned that he's loved scoring since he could remember and will likely work on improving that to do it more in the future and at the pro level.
Kiiskinen has already scored several times in the Liiga pre-season and if fans want to see if he'll score in the season opener, they can watch his game with HPK on the European sports streaming service, MTV Kassomo+ Sports that features matches from all the best hockey leagues in the world besides the NHL like the Champions League, Liiga, SHL and so much more. HPK's season opener is at 11:30 am ET on Tuesday.
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