A center who is able to push the pace of play with his strong skating and speed, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki can drive transitions through the neutral zone when carrying the puck. He has flashy elements to his game and plays at a high tempo. His ability to maintain his speed even when controlling the puck makes him difficult to defend against as he can weave in and out of traffic and create space for himself, or his teammates by drawing attackers away. Because teams have to respect this speed, he is given time and space to use his high-end vision to set up dangerous scoring chances through the use of crisp and accurate passes. With how much space and time he’s allotted, he could improve how consistently he’s able to take advantage of his situations. He would benefit from reading the play better on breakouts as his timing can be off, making it challenging for defenders to get him outlet passes. With a very clear offensive mindset, he also has a tendency to take shots into traffic that lead to blocks and changes of possession. Learning how to be more responsible with his shot selection is an important area of his game that he must improve on to be more effective at driving offense. His off-puck play is inconsistent at times, too, as he’ll get caught being a pedestrian if he’s not driving the rush. There’s no questioning his talent when he has the puck, it’s his play away from it that needs some refinement for him to be an excellent two-way forward. He has a lot of upside in his game that can be realized if his game matures. His transition ability may fly under the radar, but if he can translate this ability to the NHL Kaskimaki will be an effective player who has great advanced metrics and can contribute offensively.

– FCHockey’s 2022 NHL Draft Guide