Kasper Kotkansalo was a fan of the Detroit Red Wings long before they selected him the third round of this year's NHL draft.

Give the credit to former Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula.

"My dad and I think Filppula's dad were like work buddies," said Kotkansalo, the 71st overall pick in the 2017 draft. "I think 2008 was the last Stanley Cup win. My brother got a Red Wings hat with Filppula's signature.

"I watched the playoffs and I was actually a forward back then so I liked a lot Filppula's style of play. So when I got the autograph and everything, for me and my brother that was a big difference maker."

It also didn't hurt that Kotkansalo and Filppula - who left the Red Wings in 2013 to sign with Tampa Bay as a free agent - are both natives of Finland.

But unlike Filppula, a forward who has split last season between the Lightning an Flyers, Kotkansalo is a stay-at-home defenseman these days.

At 6-foot-2, 196 pounds Kotkansalo has good size and strength, which he uses effectively against opposing forwards trying to enter his zone. He spent last season with Sioux Falls of the USHL, getting one goal and 11 assists to go with 43 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating.

But his performance in the USHL didn't accurately reflect Kotkansalo's abilities, according to the scouting service Red Line Report.

"Baffling!" wrote Red Line Report, which ranked Kotkansalo 70th among draft-eligible players. "He's so much better than he showed in USHL."

What does Kotkansalo have to say about his game?

"I think I'm pretty good two-way defenseman," he said. "I think I can move the puck well, like first pass is good for me. Also, I like playing against other teams' top guys so that does make me a shut-down defenseman type of guy."

Kotkansalo, 18, already has plenty of international experience.

Before playing for Finland in this month's World Junior Showcase in Michigan, he represented his country four times in four age divisions at the World Junior Championships while also playing in the prestigious Ivan Hlinka Memorial.

In 30 World Junior games since 2014, he had four goals, 13 assists and a plus-18 rating.

Katkansalo helped Finland win the World Junior Championship in 2016. One of his teammates was fellow Red Wings prospect Vili Saarijarvi, who is also a defenseman and will begin his pro career this season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Kotkansalo, whoi will play for Boston University this season, was at the Red Wings development camp last month and the skills tests gave him an idea of what he needs to improve if he wants to continue moving up the hockey ladder.

"It was like lateral movement was kind of tough for me," he said. "But I think as we get the test results, we also kind of know what to improve on, whether it's like the 10 yards or the 30 yards, if you got to improve on your start or something like that. The results will tell that.

"I had a meeting with the GM and the coaches ... and we were pretty much on the same page on what are my strengths and what I got to improve on. One thing is skating, like the mobility of the skating, and also getting shots through there so two big things for me."

Another thing he'll need to improve on if he ever makes it to Detroit is international relations.

The Red Wings have a long history of drafting and signing Swedish players - guys named Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Kronwall and Nyquist come to mind - and from listening to Katkansalo speak, there's no love lost between the Swedes and Finns.

The Swedes beat Finland 6-5 in overtime at the World Junior Showcase.

"Of course, yeah, I want to hit a Swede," Kotkansalo said at the development camp. "If it comes to that, I will hit a Swede, no question about that. But no, it's kind of we hate the Swedes and they probably hate us but we don't think about it in the locker room. It's only if we put the national team jersey on, then that's something else.

"I'd say very, very friendly hatred."

But hatred nonetheless?

"Yeah, big time," he said.