Finland WJC roster bodes well for future

MONTREAL -- Finland will be looking to defend its gold medal won on home ice when the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship begins Monday in Montreal and Toronto.
The tournament opens with Finland playing Czech Republic in a Group A preliminary-round game at Bell Centre on Monday (5 p.m. ET; NHLN).

The roster assembled for Finland for the 2017 WJC is nowhere near the same one it had for the 2016 tournament. That bodes well for the future of hockey in Finland.
At the 2016 WJC in Helsinki, Finland was powered by its top line of Jesse Puljujarvi (Edmonton Oilers), Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes) and Patrik Laine (Winnipeg Jets), a combination that finished 1-2-3 in tournament scoring and combined for 17 goals and 44 points in seven games.
All three were eligible to return but none will because they are playing in the NHL.
"Of course, first goal that we have is to develop players to play in the NHL," Finland coach Jukka Rautakorpi said. "It's very good that we have that problem that we can't have players to play here."
Laine, the No 2 pick in the 2016 draft, leads NHL rookies with 19 goals and 30 points in 36 games. Puljujarvi, the No 4 pick, has one goal and eight points in 24 games. Aho, a second round pick in the 2015 draft (No 35), has six goals and 17 points in 32 games.
Canada used to be the team that was missing top players because they were in the NHL; now other countries are feeling that impact as well. The United States could have center Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs), left wing Mathew Tkachuk (Calgary Flames) and defensemen Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Noah Hanifin (Hurricanes), but all are in the NHL.
This is far less common for Finland, and a further sign that Finnish hockey is on the rise.
"Beyond them it's coming, new players," Rautakorpi said. "Last year in Finland we had Aho, Puljujarvi and Laine, they were young players there. This year is a new tournament, and our young players are going to play better here. I know that."
Finland has four players who are listed as A-rated prospects for the 2017 draft by NHL Central Scouting, meaning they are considered potential first-round picks: Defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Juuso Valimaki, and forwards Eeli Tolvanen and Kristian Vesalainen. Defensemen Urho Vaakanainen earned a B rating, meaning he could be picked in the second or third round.

"They're good players and that's why they're ranked so high right now," said Finland captain Olli Juolevi, taken by the Vancouver Canucks with the fifth pick in the 2016 draft. "It's great to have those guys on this team. I hope everything works out for those guys. I know how stressful the draft year is. But this is good for those guys."
Finland has five returning players from the gold medal team, led by Juolevi, but there are seven players on the team who won gold at the 2016 IIHF World Under-18 championship, and five 2017 draft-eligible players listed as A- or B-rated prospects.
So there is some continuity on this team, and a known ability to win.
"It's a huge tournament for me and for us and for Finland," said Valimaki, who plays for Tri-City in the Western Hockey League and is fourth among WHL defensemen with 12 goals and 35 points in 32 games. "It's a great tournament. It's huge here and it's nice to play in Canada, in Toronto and Montreal. [The 2016 WJC] was great for Finns and obviously we want to do that same thing this year. We want to win again. For me personally it's a big tournament. There's lots of eyes to see me. I'm just trying to do my best and help the team win.
"I think we're going the right way [in Finland]. Obviously [2016] was great, winning the U-18s and World Junior gold medals, and the [2016 NHL] draft was great for us … we got four guys in the first round. I think we're just doing things right here in Finland."
For the 14 players on the team who are 2017 draft-eligible, particularly the five who are highly rated, watching what Laine, Puljujarvi and Aho are doing in the NHL is inspiring
"That's a good sign for me," said Vesalainen, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound power forward who led Finland with 23:41 of ice time in its opening pretournament game against Canada. "I believe a little bit more that I can do that also because those guys are doing pretty well there. I think everybody in Finland is more excited because the young players are going to the NHL, so they want to check the young players.
"All the kids want to play hockey in Finland so it's great."
But nothing would give a bigger boost to Finland's hockey program than a second straight World Junior gold medal and a third in a span of four tournaments. That's the goal despite the young nature of the roster and the losses of Laine, Puljujarvi and Aho.
"We have good players here without those three guys," Heiskanen said. "I think we have a good chance here."