Kalle Vaisanen
Kalle Vaisanen is another big-body forward and the Finnish left-winger has some pedigree. Despite having just 3 goals in 27 games this season in Liiga in Finland, Vaisanen has proven to a lot of TPS fans that he is more than willing to go and fight for the team he is playing on and put himself in situations that some other players may be afraid to get involved in. He’s the kind of player that earns his place.
Vaisanen’s production is not an indication of his talent. He’s not the most natural passer, and his shot isn’t special. He’ll get most of his goals from the garbage spots around the front of the net. Just because he doesn’t snipe like some of the other prospects in the tournament might do, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t a player that will be a disappointment at this tournament.
Finland’s 6’4, 190 lbs, forward is going to be in the tough stuff and battles all over the ice. He’s tenacious and he’s willing to go and fight for the logo on the front of his jersey, rather than the name on the back like some of the other players in the world. Vaisanen is not going to be a player that you will be able to miss. First of all, he is like a moving tree, but he is going to be visible.
With the fourth of the Ranger prospects that we have talked about so far, it’s worth tuning into the Finland games when you have spare time. This is one of the prospects at the tournament with a good chance of drastically increasing his value and no longer being viewed as a spare thought when we talk about the Rangers’ pipeline and future prospects.