Leafs prospect turning a lot of heads at the WJC with his exceptional bulldog-style of play; and it's not Matthew Knies
Listed at just 5'9 and 170 pounds, Team Finland captain and Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen is impressing everyone with his play at the World Juniors. He has often been first into the corner to battle for loose pucks and has found ways to out-muscle other teams' bigger players and set up his teammates for scoring chances.
Hirvonen has done an outstanding job at generating scoring chances for his line mates. So much so that, as you can see from the chart below, he is miles better than his teammates at 5 on 5. Hirvonen has always played "bigger" than he is, and what the chart doesn't show is that the majority of the scoring chances he has generated are from below the goal line and off the rush.
Here you can see why Hirvonen has been so productive generating chances at 5 on 5 for Finland. He is aggressive on the forecheck, uses his body to separate the Slovak defenseman from the puck below the goal line and uses his skill and vision to see his line mate in the slot, resulting in a goal.
Hirvonen isn't scared to go into the dirty areas to find a loose puck, as we saw from the above clip. At the same time, he also knows that if he wants to score he needs to be around the net, as he was in the below clip.
Hirvonen has impressed at the World Juniors the past two weeks, and there is no doubt Leafs' management has noticed. Hirvonen is likely to remain in Europe for at least one more season, but if he continues to impress with HIFK in the Finnish league, he could be immediately slotted into a top line role with the Marlies near the end of the season when the Finnish league schedule and playoffs conclude.
As they say, it's not the size of the dog in the fight.. Well, you know the rest.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 17 | 273 ANSWERS Leafs prospect turning a lot of heads at the WJC with his exceptional bulldog-style of play; and it's not Matthew Knies Will Roni Hirvonen be ready to play in the NHL by 2023-24? | ||
| Yes | 131 | 48 % |
| No, let's not rush him | 103 | 37.7 % |
| Who? | 39 | 14.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
