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Fantasy Summary

Offensive-minded defender who controls the offensive blue line with poise. Shows good mobility but needs to improve his overall pace of play in order to maximize his potential as an effective NHL puck mover.


Observations

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June 2025- After a strong rookie campaign in the OHL in 2023-2024, Karki elected to return to Finland for the season, and saw ice time with two separate teams. Between 19 games for Tappara and 24 for Assat, Karki combined a line of three goals and 11 assists for 14 points. At 6-2 and 181 pounds, Karki has NHL size, and honing his craft against men in a professional league could pay off in the long run, but given that he is currently unsigned, and has gone back to Europe so quickly, Golden Knights fans and fantasy managers alike may be left a little disappointed in future prospects.  Alex Wyatt

December 2023 – Arttu Kärki has already made waves in his draft +1 season, with 14 goals scored through his first 18 games as a first year player with the Soo, helping to constitute one of the better offensive starts for a blueliner in the history of OHL. He has been a consistent threat on the powerplay, currently tied for second in the league with 11 powerplay markers. The 2023 third-round pick is now set to represent Team Finland at the 2024 World Juniors, where a strong showing could go a long way towards proving that offensive output to be legit. Taylor Davis

June 2023 – Kärki was selected 96th overall by the Golden Knights. Pat Quinn

December 2022 – Production-wise, Kärki has started the season very well. His 22 points in 17 games for Tappara’s U20 team is second among all defenders in U20 SM-sarja. However, he has scored a lot against lower-level competition, which is a relevant point in this season’s U20 SM-sarja, as there is a wide gap between the league’s best and worst teams. His stat line is still impressive and shows his potential to produce offense.

Kärki plays an offensive-minded game. He handles the puck well and plays especially well on the offensive zone blue line, where he can deke players and get shots through traffic. He can get to good top speed and isn’t a bad skater by any means, but has a lot of room to improve in terms of foot quickness and explosiveness to improve his ability to retrieve pucks in the defensive zone. Kärki has some issues with his defensive game, and he is prone to committing bad turnovers when forced to make a play. He is still working on playing at a higher pace and will need to do that consistently to limit his negative plays as he works toward a career in North America. Kärki has draft value, but I see his style being way more suitable for Europe than North America until he improves his processing speed and shows a greater ability to make plays under pressure. Eetu Siltanen

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 7.5
NHL Certainty 6.5
Country FIN
Position D
Roster Type Europe
Shoot/Glove Left
Date of Birth December 8, 2004
Height 6‘2”
Weight 181 lbs
Drafted 2023 Round 3; Overall: 96

Stats – Frozen Tools

SeasonLeagueTeamGPGAPTSPIM+/-
2024-2025LiigaAssat2437102-10
2024-2025LiigaTappara190446-1
2024-2025Champions HLTappara621302
2023-2024WJC-20Finland U2070330-1
2023-2024OHLSoo Greyhounds592124451015
2022-2023U20 SM-sarjaTappara U20361326392425
2021-2022WJC-18Finland U18502221
2021-2022U20 SM-sarjaTappara U2036220221616
2021-2022U18 SM-sarjaTappara U18115111660
2020-2021U18 SM-sarjaTappara U182261218100
2019-2020U18 SM-sarjaIlves U181503340
2019-2020U16 SM-sarjaIlves U161621214100
2018-2019U16 SM-sarjaIlves U161031400

Highlights