Enter Matias Vanhanen.
Vanhanen is a Finnish forward who plays for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The 18-year-old just finished his first season in North America and wasted no time showing he could get acclimated to the smaller ice. His playmaking was on display throughout the regular season, with 21 goals and 66 assists for 87 points in 62 games, good enough to lead the league-best Silvertips in scoring en route to a whopping 57-8-2-1 record. But, in the playoffs, his goal-scoring abilities took centre stage with 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points in 18 playoff games, along with four goals and eight points in five Memorial Cup games. While the Silvertips wound up losing the Memorial Cup, it wasn’t due to lack of contributions from Vanhanen.
Vanhanen was one of the WHL’s premier setup guys this year, showing excellent heads-up hockey sense every time he hit the ice. If it wasn’t for him, Everett’s offense would be significantly less lethal – Vanhanen seemed to be the primary play-producer. There’s no question he’ll get drafted in his second year of eligibility, but scouts aren’t completely sure what type of player he’ll be at the next level. He lacks any sort of physical play, and he’s not all too quick, either. But, man, his puck play is truly remarkable, and he’s showing it off at the Memorial Cup right now.
The size (5-foot-11 and 176 pounds) lines up with his lack of any physical game, which I’m sure will turn off half of the people reading this, and that’s fair. But you simply can’t deny his offensive talent, and the Leafs haven’t exactly seen a ton of success drafting players for their size. The Leafs’ prospect pool isn’t in a good enough place to be picky about the types of players available – they should simply be taking the best player available based on skill, and if 60th overall rolls around with Vanhanen on the board, it’s hard to imagine they’ll find a player who did more than lead his team in scoring en route to a Memorial Cup appearance.
Another factor here that makes Vanhanen intriguing is the fact that this is technically his second year of draft eligibility. He turns 19 on September 11th, and his birthday was four days before the cutoff for eligibility last year. Had he been born a week later, he’s probably talked about as a first round pick candidate this year, so he’s got some sneaky value that the Leafs could capitalize on. Another example of this is Sean Durzi, and yes, different position and all, but he’s turned into a pretty good NHL player!
There’s an argument to be made that the Leafs should spread the wealth a little bit and take a defenceman with their second round pick, but again, it has to be the best player available. Plus, their next pick is at 69th, so if they go for skill two picks in a row, they could add to their positional strength 20 minutes later. As it stands right now, Vanhanen is one of if not the most skilled player projected to go in that area, and the Leafs would be wise to draft him if he’s on the clock when the 60th pick is on the clock.
Sponsored by bet365