7. Janne Kuokkanen, C/W
Stats: 60 gp, 11 g, 29 a, 40 p (8 pgp, 3 g, 1 a, 4 p). 12 PPA, 1 GWG, 1 ENG, 103 SOG, .67 pts/g . Charlotte Checkers, AHL. 4 gp, 0 g, 0 a, 0 p. Carolina Hurricanes, NHL
Janne Kuokkanen has a higher ceiling than Saarela or anybody on this list so far, and likely ends up as a top-six winger. Hitting a .67 point-per-game pace as a 20-year-old rookie is impressive, and while he wasn’t the goal scorer he needs to be at the NHL level, his ability to make plays was impressive.
With a natural scorer like Andrei Svechnikov in their top six, the Carolina Hurricanes will need someone like Kuokkanen who can set him up (without breaking up Teravainen and Aho, as well).
With a natural scorer like Andrei Svechnikov in their top six, the Carolina Hurricanes will need someone like Kuokkanen who can set him up.
He is excellent on the power play as well, though he didn’t score on the man advantage until the playoffs. 12 assists from a playmaking wing are excellent, and it helps the goal scorers that the Charlotte Checkers had to score. Kuokkanen earned himself four games in the NHL, but just never did anything with them. He’ll grow into it.
Kuokkanen also needs to take more shots (he had just 1.72 shots per game) and with graduating players on the Checkers this past season, he will likely get the chance. He showed in the playoffs a better ability to shoot and score, and his shots per game rate jumped to 2.5.
Still, tying for 15th in rookie scoring and getting eighth in assists shows where Kuokkanen was and where he can go.