Salminen clearly has some offensive talent in the package of skills that he brings to the ice, showing equal ability as both a scorer and playmaker. When given time to shoot he can get good power behind his shot, and when he puts his weight into it he’s capable of picking a corner on a netminder from the circles. He displays some good puck skills for a player his size, as he can protect the puck from checkers with his reach and can use that reach to angle the puck around defenders to find teammates in the offensive zone. However, his passing ability is inconsistent at times, and he picks some very questionable times to try shooting. His skating stride, at the moment, is quite clunky and will need to be an area of improvement moving forward. His ankle flexion causes his feet to be flat and his posture to be too upright while skating, causing issues in his first step acceleration and overall balance on the ice. His edgework is soft, getting him knocked off of his feet far too easily. There are too many occasions when he is a step behind the play in his own zone due to his lack of speed, and in turn, he has to rely on his reach to salvage defensive plays, lunging helplessly at pucks and pulling himself out of position. He seems to lack positional awareness in his own end. Gets pushed around surprisingly easily for such a big player. He has a bad habit of weak backchecks and instances of leaving the zone too early on breakout plays. Plays center at this level, but would need a dramatic amount of progress in multiple areas to be able to stay a center at higher levels. Overall, it’s clear Salminen is still quite raw in his physical maturity, mobility, and defensive awareness, which will be areas for improvement for him to fully maximize his offensive ability as he prepares for higher levels of play.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide