The Tampa Bay Lightning may have gotten a major steal with their fourth-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Lightning selected forward Benjamin Rautianen with the 108th pick in this past summer's draft, and his stock has instantly gone to the moon. Currently, he's on pace to record the most points in Liiga since the 2007-08 season when Janne Pesonen had 78 for Oulun Karpat.
Rautianen has scored 19 goals this season, which places him 11th leaguewide in that regard, while adding a league-leading 47 assists for a total of 66 points in 51 games. With just eight games remaining in the Liiga season, Rautiainen is on pace to finish the campaign with 76 points.
For comparison, the player who lead the league in points last season was Jori Lehtera with 59, a number that Rautainen passed back in January. It was almost impossible to predict Rautainen's stature in Liiga would change so quickly though, as last season he scored 10 goals and totaled 33 points in 50 games. While those numbers are respectable, it placed him nowhere near the top of the the league.
At just 20 years of age, Rautainen is dominating a league full of men with years of professional hockey experience. While it's hard to predict how well his game will translate to the narrower, more physical North American style of hockey, it seems safe to say Julien BriseBois should likely try his hardest to get Rautainen signed to a contract as soon as physically possible.