Forward Juuso Pärssinen scored a goal in Nashville's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday, but his coach and teammates think Pärssinen may just be scratching the surface of what he capable of.
For the causal Nashville Predators fan, the emergence of young Juuso Pärssinen last season may have come as a bit of a surprise. The 2019 seventh round draft pick joined the Milwaukee Admirals for the AHL playoffs in 2022 after his season wrapped up in Finland. Last season Pärssinen started the season with Milwaukee, and with just 19 total AHL games of North American hockey under his belt, the 22-year-old was called up to Nashville in November 2022 to make his NHL debut.
Pärssinen scored his first NHL goal in his debut game on November 12 and went on to score two goals less than a week later against the New York Islanders. It was a great first impression for Predators fans who may have been unfamiliar with the prospect. Pärssinen became a regular up and down the Nashville lineup until he was injured in late February and didn't return until the last week of the 2022-23 season.
Where Pärssinen would fit in the lineup this season was hard to predict with a new head coach and new system, but Andrew Brunette has liked what he's seen from the Finnish forward. On opening night Pärssinen logged ice time on the top line with Ryan O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg and scored a goal to start the third period.
There's a lot to like about Pärssinen's game according to O'Reilly.
"He does so many things well," O'Reilly said after Wednesday's practice. "The way he handles the puck, his size, his physicality. Obviously so crafty with the puck."
"It was just an unbelievable goal," O'Reilly said of Pärssinen's third period score. "Just kind of embarrassed the goalie with how smooth it was."
It isn't just what Pärssinen does on the ice that the veteran has noticed.
"I'm just so impressed with his maturity."
Andrew Brunette liked what he saw from Pärssinen in the first game of the season but believes there is even more to his game that can be developed.
Brunette is still evaluating his new team and isn't ready yet to make commitments when it comes to his line combinations, but he likes what Pärssinen does on a line with O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg.
"I think it's a good opportunity playing with those guys," Brunette said. "He should have a lot of fun with them."
Predators Focused on Getting a Quick Start Against the Kraken
Nashville's 5-3 Loss to Tampa Bay: Predators Need to Do More and Less
Predators Are "Uncomfortable" and "Confident" as the Season Begins
Nashville Predators 2023-24 Projection: Three Keys to the Season and Worst Case Scenario