Max Laatikainen

September 2026- Max Laatikainen is a smooth-skating, undersized puck-moving defenseman the Philadelphia Flyers selected 213th overall with the final pick of their draft, and the youngest player in the entire class, born one day before he would have been eligible for 2027.

A Finnish blueliner from the Kiekko-Espoo system, he spent 2025-26 across three levels, posting 11 points in 22 games at the under-20 level with a plus-10 before making his Liiga debut in six games, though a late-December injury ended his season early.

Skating and poise are his calling cards. He is one of the more effortless skaters Finland has produced recently, moves the puck efficiently, times his activations well, and flashes projectable offensive instincts, holding up in mature performances against men. The caveats are size and consistency: his lack of strength limits his defensive stopping power, and he can drift into a low motor and become error-prone in transition.

He projects to keep developing in Finland for 2026-27. For fantasy he is a deep-league flyer, a mobile puck-mover with a long runway, so file him away and watch whether the offense grows as he earns more Liiga time. Andrew Epps