Jesperi Kotkaniemi rose from the teens to the top-10, and even higher, in many draft rankings throughout the season. He is this year’s late riser, but he shouldn’t have been.



He always belonged in the discussion.



Kotkaniemi played exceptionally well in a limited role for Ässät’s U20 team in the Jr. A SM-liiga, recording 15 points, including nine goals, as a 16-year-old last season. He finished the season at the U18 World Junior Championship, where yet again, he thrived as an underager in a small role.



Yet there wasn’t much hype surrounding him. As late as January of this year, there wasn’t any top-10, let alone top-five discussion surrounding Kotkaniemi, despite a 0.5 points per game clip on a low scoring team in Liiga, Finland’s top tier of men’s hockey.



The turning point was the U18 Five Nations tournament in February. Kotkaniemi was Finland’s best player in four games. He dominated the...