3. Rasmus Kupari, C (1-20, 2018)
Stats (Karpat, Liiga): 39 gp, 6 g, 8 a, 14 p, 2 PPG (6 pgp, 0 g, 0 a, 0 p);
Stats (Karpat U20, Jr. A SM-ligga)11 gp, 3 g, 4 a, 7 p (3 pgp, 0 g, 2 a, 2 p).
Stats (Hermes, Mestis): 5 gp, 1 g, 3 a, 4 p.
Rasmus Kupari fell down the draft rankings as the season wore on, beginning as a top ten pick and ending as 20th overall. Still, the Los Angeles Kings saw enough in him to take him at that position, even despite the warnings draft analysts were giving. That means they like what they saw, even in the brief games Kupari played across multiple leagues, never topping a point per game pace in any of them. In the developmental league, he had seven points in 11 games. He played 39 games in the best league and came close to a point-per-game pace in Finland’s version of the AHL.
Kupari didn’t do well in the AHL, scoring just two points in the Jr. A SM-liiga and scoring zero in six games in the Liiga. His numbers are genuinely confusing, but he didn’t have much time to get settled anywhere. He was playing against much older competition in the Liiga, which might explain his relative lack of numbers. Players who have gone through the Liiga at a young age like himself have had similar struggles. Even Patrik Laine, the best Finnish prospect in a long time, only scored 33 points in 46 games.
Kupari won’t be at Laine’s level, but then again, who is. If he’s a third-line center, that’s what the Kings need, especially if Anderson-Dolan and Gabriel Vilardi live up to the hype. He’s a solid playmaker who can shoot well, and while he’s still a number of years away, that should be okay. He’ll get more time in the Liiga this season before coming over to the AHL, and that could show more of what Kupari is capable of.