Anttoni Uronen

June 2026 — Uronen is the gritty Liiga-rotation profile Finnish observers have flagged more than any other late-round Finn in this class, and the case starts with where he played. He logged 27 Liiga games for HIFK as a 17-year-old, scored 10 points, and drew first-line center looks in stretches before injuries cut into his run, men’s-league exposure most draft-eligibles never get. The identity is physicality and intensity. He uses his frame to win battles, makes himself hard to play against, and brings an agitating, after-the-whistle edge that gets under opponents’ skin. Two things hold him back on draft boards: his skating needs work, and his defensive reads are unrefined, with stretches where he doubles coverage and loses his man. That gap between the Finnish read and the English public boards is the story, with Central Scouting’s European list rating him higher than the consensus. For fantasy, the projection is a bottom-six or middle-six gritty center whose value leans on penalty minutes and physicality rather than scoring, since the offensive ceiling is modest by his own coverage’s account. He signed an HIFK extension in March and stays in Finland another season, the right runway to keep proving his game against men. His twin brother Eelis is a draft-eligible defenseman and older brother Tuomas is a Vegas prospect, a rare family lineage. If the skating improves enough to lock in a checking-line role, the offensive ceiling still tops out around 30 to 35 points. Andrew Epps