Ht/Wt: 5' 7"/161 lbs
Position: C/LW
Team: Blues (FIN)

Juuso Ikonen's Player Profile

Ikonen is an exceptionally skilled player who produced an impressive amount for an undersized, U18 forward in Finland's top professional league. His skill set is explosive and dynamic. He has outstanding skating ability, and he can jet through the neutral zone, creating a ton of space off of his rushes. He also has high-end puck skills, which combined with his skating can make him a handful to contain. He has elements of flash to his game, as he can make appearances on highlight reels through completion of difficult plays, but sometimes he will try to do too much. He has above-average ability as a passer, if not better, and he can create off of the perimeter very well if the tempo slows down. Ikonen also shows some quality finishing skills. His main issue is his size. Ikonen measures in at 5'9", 170 pounds. He needs great offensive tools to potentially be even an average scorer at the NHL level. Despite this, he works very hard, and he will try to fight through checks. His ability to win battles against big North American players is a significant question mark.
Submitted by: Corey Pronman of Hockey Prospectus. Click here for Pronman's draft rankings

Small winger has proven himself as a high level offensive threat… Has great determination and ability to generate offensive chances… Compete level is above average but we question his grit… Will benefit greatly from increased strength moving forward.
Submitted by: The Scouting Report

He is a very skilled player who showed his stuff from the get-go at the NJEC. He netted a pair of goals versus Team USA Blue to start as first found the score sheet on a rebound from a point shot and then absolutely connected one top shelf for the Finnish (pun-intended) on a 3-on-2 play. With many NHL scouts in attendance in Lake Placid, it is not a matter of skill with Ikonen, but rather size and strength. He also potted another versus Sweden by simply using good anticipation to place himself in right position to receive a feed from Teravainen on a back-door set-up. Ikonen sees the ice well, has decent wheels and skating stride underneath him, and competes hard. I am sure many eyebrows were raised and several notes taken on Ikonen, so do not be surprised if his game comes to North America in a few years.
Submitted by: Russ Bitely from the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp – U20 Team Finland – Lake Placid, NY – August 4th-11th

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