Emil Järventie

June 2023 – Järventie was selected 217th overall by the Penguins. Pat Quinn

October 2022 – Järventie started the last season playing for the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL, but after struggling and only notching six points in 19 games, he returned to Finland. With Ilves, he notched 21 points in 20 U20 SM-sarja games and 23 points in 14 U18 SM-sarja games. He is expected to spend most of this season playing in the U20 league but will probably get into some Mestis action for KOOVEE on occasion.

Järventie is an undersized but quick and electric winger. His feet are fast and he has a great motor, but his stride lacks power, and while his first steps are very quick, he doesn’t possess the greatest top speed. Järventie has good hands – notably in tight spaces – but he often relies too much on his skill and still needs to learn when to simplify his game. He flashes great playmaking ability at times, but it is very inconsistent, and he also makes a lot of questionable decisions with the puck. The most common problem is probably his poor shot selection – he has a hard wrist shot but not a very quick release and takes too many shots from the outside. Järventie is small, and his lack of physical strength is often evident in his game. While he gets to the dirty areas, you can often see seeing him avoiding contact rather than engaging, which is something that will be of greater concern in the North American game. Despite his physical limitations, Järventie has raw but projectable offensive tools and could hear his name called early on day two of the 2023 NHL Draft. Eetu Siltanen