14.
Oskari Laaksonen, RHD, 22 (Rochester Americans)
On one hand, Laaksonen, who was drafted in the third round by the Sabres in 2017, has been around forever and still hasn’t made his NHL debut. And on the other, he still has another year after this one on his entry-level deal, he’s waiver exempt, and I still believe in him as a potential NHL guy even knowing that he’ll turn 23 this summer and this is the last time he’ll feature as a prospect here regardless of whether he makes it or not. Honestly, I still think he has progressed in line with what you’d expect out of a third-round pick, remaining relevant and interesting without being a surefire player. He has a good track record across multiple pro levels, with consistently strong age-adjusted production from the back end. He has shown he can run a power play at lower levels. He’s a 6-foot-2 righty. There’s appeal there. Laaksonen’s game doesn’t come with a ton of flair or ingenuity despite his production, but he keeps his head up and his feet moving when he has the puck, he keeps his shots low and on target, and he generates a lot of rebound assists. He’s got a hard one-timer. He makes the right play offensively more often than not, choosing, for example, when to lay off the shot so that he can hit a teammate’s stick on a redirect. There are some question marks more about the way he defends (he can struggle to maintain gaps and can get carried away watching the play within his own zone) but he’s good organizational depth at minimum, he should be a call-up option in the short term, and he might make it as a No. 5-7 guy in the medium term.
