The New York Rangers signed Finnish defenseman Tarmo Reunanen to his entry-level contract this summer. Reunanen finished his stellar first season in the Liiga this year and is preparing to make the move to North America.
The New York Rangers’ rebuild has brought a plethora of strong prospects out of the woodworks. One of those prospects is the Finnish defenseman Tarmo Reunanen. He played a solid rookie season in Liiga and was rewarded with an entry-level contract.
Reunanen was drafted by the Rangers with the 98th overall selection in the 2016 draft. At the time, questions regarding his size and defensive play were at the forefront. At this point, his ceiling is on the rise nonetheless, thanks to his strong offensive play.
Reunanen’s Strong Rookie Year
Prior to the 2018-19 season, the six-foot tall, 188 pound defenseman regularly circulated between the top three Finnish leagues. He stuck with the Liiga club Lukko. Reunanen’s defensive shortcomings were overshadowed by his offensive prowess.
The 21-year old made a name for himself by producing at a level that few have before. Reunanen’s six goals and 19 assists in just 58 games put him in a class that only five other Finnish defensemen at his age have reached. That prestigious list includes NHLers Sami Vatanen, Esa Lindell, and Sami Niku.
If that offensive ability translates well to the North American ice, Rangers fans should expect to see Reunanen playing on the Garden ice sooner than later. However, I’m not 100% convinced that coming to North America right now is the best move for him.
Rangers’ Good Problem to Have
In signing Reunanen, the Rangers have further contributed to their logjam on defensive. The Rangers have eight left-sided defensemen under contract for next season, many of whom should be playing at the NHL level. And that’s not including Reunanen.
Even after a strong season for Lukko, Reunanen is behind at least five of the Rangers’ current defensemen, namely Brady Skjei, Marc Staal, Libor Hajek, Yegor Rykov, and Ryan Lindgren. While I have no idea what kind of performance any one player will have at training camp, at this point, I have Reunanen playing very few minutes even at the AHL level.
Getting any amount of experience in adjusting to the smaller ice surface will be beneficial to the young man, but for a player of his age, I think getting more ice time against good competition will be better for his game.
In all honesty, I don’t think the Rangers are expecting Reunanen to play in North America this season. The team had to sign him or risk losing the opportunity to sign him at all. With that in mind, I would keep my expectations of Reunanen on the lower side, as he very well may stay in Finland for another season.