Hurricanes: 5 Under the Radar Prospects You Shouldn’t Forget About

Tuukka Tieksola

First on the list is 2019 4th-round draft pick Tuukka Tieksola, a Finnish forward who’s currently playing in his home country. At 5’10, 160lbs, he’s a tiny kid, but his natural talents more than offsets his lack of size.

In my opinion Tieksola is one of the most exciting and intriguing prospects in the Hurricanes system. Credential Finnish scout Jokke Nevalainen, who’s scouted Tieksola since he was a teenager, has been on record claiming Tieksola was a top-50 talent in the 2019 draft. The Canes drafted him 121st.

“I’m a big fan of Tieksola. [He] could end up being the biggest steal of the draft. [Tieksola] can drive the offense, and has legitimate top-6 upside. [His NHL arrival will be a bit of a] wait because he needs to mature physically” – Nevalainen said when CAR drafted Tieksola.

After scoring 15 goals and 60 points last year in the Junior league in Finland, Tieksola made a one-game debut for Karpat in Liiga – the same club that produced a certain Cane you may have heard of …. Sebastian Aho. Tieksola was also a staple for the Finland U18 team, scoring 3 goals and 19 points in 20 appearances. Heading into the draft, Nevalainen said this:

“[Tieksola’s development will require] time and patience but he has massive offensive upside as a playmaking winger. If he can get stronger and adjust to pro level, someone could get a massive steal – especially if he slips past the second round.”

Nevalainen was absolutely shocked to see Tieksola slip to the end of the 4th round, and said CAR’s selection of him was “a gamble he’d take each and every time”. In terms of his weaknesses, the only real negative to his game is his size/strength, which he can likely work on and overcome.

As far as his skill set; the kid is electric. A very smooth and dynamic talent, he can penetrate defenses in numerous ways. He’s a strong skater – he’s got high top-end speed and is very agile, with quick two-step acceleration.

Branded as a playmaker, his on-ice vision is elite. He’s got smooth hands and as far as his playmaking goes, he routine makes passes that just make you go “wow”. Though not known for his shooting, his shot is deceptive, and he’s already scored 7 more goals in 17 fewer games than a year ago.

He’s currently still playing in the Finnish junior league, but it’s been no secret to onlookers that he’s far too good for that league. Unfortunately, he’s a victim of a powerhouse Karpat program, so opportunities have been sparse. In 34 games with Karpat U20, Tieksola’s 22 goals and 47 points have him among the leagues leaders. His 1.39 points per game clip leads that league.

As such, he was loaned out to Hermes of the Mestis league for 2 games, where he scored 1 goal. He’s now currently forced his way up to the Karpat roster – and he’s played in 5 games but has yet to record a point.

Tieksola won’t be 19 until June, and is already forcing his way into Liiga – one of the best leagues outside of the NHL. His game has been compared to Jesper Bratt, and personally, the way he processes and reads the ice reminds me a lot of Elias Lindholm and William Nylander.

Obviously, considering his lack of size and strength as well as experience, this is a kid who’s a ways away from an NHL spot. He’s very raw, but he has far too much natural ability to overlook. He has a real chance of being a dynamic player in Carolina’s top-six one day down the road.

Luke Henman

Continuing on with another undersized forward, Canadian center Luke Henman is a kid who inspires confidence. Hand-picked by the new Don Waddell regime during their first draft in 2018, Henman has a pretty promising skill set, assuming he can manage to bulk up his 6’0, 159lb frame.

At first glance, Henman seems like a guy who’ll have a tough time getting to the NHL. He was listed at just 143lbs when he was drafted back in 2018, so by all accounts he’s literally a string bean. There’s no way he’ll be able to compete at the center-ice position in the NHL without adding a LOT of bulk.

Some scouts couldn’t overlook that, and had Henman going undrafted. However, despite the lack of size, a lot of scouts were also sold on his natural ability, and it’s safe to assume that Carolina fell into that category. The Canes’ Director of Amateur Scouting at the time, recently retired Tony MacDonald, said the following about Henman:

“Very smart, tenacious, plays well with and without the puck. … He’s tall enough, he’s just a skinny, light kid who needs to add some mass. Tremendous competitor – that was the big thing about him. Very gritty kid.”

Henman was quoted as saying he models his game after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and that comparison seems fair. Henman is a good skater, possesses high hockey IQ and is a very good distributor of the puck. He’s also got a deceptive wrist shot, although he’s usually reluctant to use it.

He was drafted by Cape Breton of the QMJHL in 2016 but decided against reporting to that team and instead chose to develop his game with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He managed to record 46 points last season despite his team being awful, but he’s now really turned a corner.

In 47 games this season as the captain of his Blainville squad, Henman leads the team with 60 points (20 goals, 40 assists), forming one of the leagues best duos with undrafted forward Iaroslav Likhachev. Thanks to Henman’s stellar play, his team sits atop the West Division in the QMJHL.

Looking toward his future, it seems like Henman has done enough to earn an entry-level contract. The 96th pick of the 2018 draft, Carolina has until June 1st 2020 to sign Henman to his ELC, or he’ll re-enter the NHL draft.

It’s safe to assume that Carolina will sign Henman, as the regime who drafted him is still in place. Assuming a deal gets done, Carolina will have the option to either re-assign Henman to the QMJHL as an overager next year, or let him begin his pro career with either the Charlotte Checkers or the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.

It’s tough to project exactly what Henman’s upside is at the NHL level, and he has a long grind ahead of him to get there. However, his raw ability is definitely worthy of developing, and should be able to overcome his deficiencies (strength, consistency) he has a chance to factor into the Hurricanes plans at forward sometime in the future.

Lenni Killinen

Another one of the many Finnish players drafted by the Canes in recent years, Lenni Killinen is another kid who inspires confidence. Drafted in the 4th round (104th overall) in 2018, Killinen is an honest player with a high floor, but maybe a low ceiling. And how great of a hockey name is LENNI KILLINEN!?

After posting 41 points in 38 games in the Finnish junior league and making 10 appearances for in the Mestis league, the Canes tapped Killinen as a guy who has developmental upside. A 200-foot player, he can be effective all over the ice.

Killinen is very tenacious, and he can be an absolute pain to play against. He’s a rather large kid, currently listed at 6’2″ and 190lbs. His game is rather raw as a prospect, but one thing you can never question is his effort level. He’s relentless, and has some decent offensive qualities as well. He’s a force on the cycle, and he’s got a pretty quick release.

As far as his development is going, Killinen has been playing in Liiga for the past 2 seasons – for Ässat Pori. Despite battling through some injury troubles, he managed to contribute 3 goals and 11 points in 32 games last year as an 18-year old, which is pretty impressive.

He’s taken another leap forward this year. His stats haven’t really blossomed much (4 goals, 6 assists in 27 games) but his overall play has taken strides. He’s spent time on the team’s first line, and has earned his coach’s trust.

His fine play resulted in Killinen getting the nod for the Finnish squad at the World Junior Championships last month, where he recorded 2 assists in 7 games and spent some time on their top powerplay unit. Killinen does a lot of dirty work around the crease, and that’s often his sweet spot for goal scoring:

https://twitter.com/smliiga/status/1047784865867993088?s=21

Looking ahead, it’s likely Killinen will play out the rest of his contract with Assat, which expires in the summer of 2021. The Finnish league is high-quality competition, and a fine place for a local kid to develop. When his contract expires, the Hurricanes will likely hope to bring Killinen overseas to acclimate himself and his game to smaller North American ice.

I haven’t had the chance to watch him a ton, but based on limited viewings and well as various scouting reports I think a reasonable comparable for him is a Jordan Martinook-type player with untapped offensive upside. He plays a tough, energetic style of game and has raw offensive skills that may or may not progress.

Regardless, Killinen seems like the type of player that will become a fan favourite. The rugged style he plays with will be well-received by Caniacs – assuming he finds himself in the NHL at some point. It really does seem like his skill set could find him a grinding, hard-nosed NHL role someday, but I’m not sure I would count on him being anything more than a bottom-6 forward.

Kirill Slepets

The Canes drafted this Russian forward 152nd overall in 2019, after he was unselected in the two prior drafts. I hate to set expectations high, but the last Russian forward Carolina drafted was Andrei Svechnikov – so Slepets has big shoes to fill. (I’m completely joking).

But seriously, there’s a lot of like about Slepets. His initial draft year was in 2017 – where he went undrafted. Curiously, he was ranked as high as 40th by ISS hockey, and Central Scouting had him 23rd among Euro skaters, so the fact he was undrafted remains a mystery. He was arguably a 3rd or 4th round talent.

He took a huge step in his development in 2018 and was undrafted again, despite having first-round buzz during the draft process. Last year, he made a 10-game debut in the KHL and also scored 5 goals for the Russian World Junior team, which led that group, which likely led to him catching attention from the Hurricanes.

On the topic of catching attention, Slepets will certainly catch an eye from viewers when he’s on the ice. Though he really lacks size (he’s listed 5’10, 154lbs) he’s an electrifying skater. He’s got absolutely blazing straight-line speed, really smooth hands and a cracking wrist shot. He’s definitely got everything you’d want in a modern-NHL sniper. I mean, his speed is just incredible:

https://twitter.com/tsn_sports/status/1081688133425606660?s=21

Slepets started off this season in the VHL, where he led his team with 8 goals and 15 points through 21 games. After realizing he’s outgrown that league, he was moved on to KHL side Riga Dynamo for an opportunity. Unfortunately, Riga is a horrible club, and they’ve managed to score just 84 goals in 53 games.

The numbers aren’t impressive on the surface – Slepets has 3 goals and 3 assists in 25 games – but when you consider that just 5 players on that team have eclipsed 10 points, Slepets seems to be holding up quite fine as a KHL rookie.

Unfortunately, despite the promise, the odds that Slepets ends up making it to the NHL are not overly favourable. For starters, at just 5’10 154lbs, he obviously lacks size and strength which is a tough hurdle to climb in the NHL. On top of that, his defense game is a work in progress, and he’d likely need to fit into a top-six role in the NHL, which wouldn’t be an easy task.

To complicate matters further, trying to convince him to leave a great situation in his home country for the AHL will be extremely difficult. He has a wonderful situation there, and foreign players usually don’t stick around long in the AHL. It could end up being similar to the case of Gregory Hofmann, the Canes’ 4th round pick 2011 who never came over from Switzerland.

All things considered, it’s fair to assume that Slepets is a longshot. He’s got really high upside, a lot of which is untapped, and very raw ability that was worth a gamble in the 5th round. The kid definitely has NHL talent, but a lot of domino’s need to fall the right way if we’re going to see him in Raleigh someday.

I also did a full prospect profile on Slepets and his entire backstory in October, which you can read here .

Domenick Fensore

I’ve been covering hockey for 5 years, and been a fan of the game for all of my 22 years on the Earth – and I have never seen a prospect surrounded by as many question marks as Domenick Fensore, who was the 90th pick of the 2019 draft. A US-born defenseman, Fensore has really divided scouts.

First and foremost, Fensore is 18-years old and listed at 5’7″ and 150lbs – which is smaller than me (and I’m a twig). This kid is an absolute string bean, and would be the smallest defenseman (in terms of both weight and height) in the NHL currently. How in God’s name can this kid be an effective NHL defender?

Well, scouts had labeled Fensore to be maybe the fastest player in the draft, with his explosive acceleration and agility amongst the best in his age group. He’s purely an offensive-minded player, his vision is exceptional, and as a puck-mover he’s very smart and dynamic. He’s got the tools to quarterback a powerplay.

Obviously though, his size is a major hinderance to his potential as a defender – as nearly every player in the NHL would have no problem pushing him around and out-muscle him in the D-zone. He’s young and he does have time to grow – but realistically how much larger can he get?

Because of that, some scouts have suggested that Fensore would have a better chance to make the NHL as a forward, which was a position he played until he was 12 years old. However, there is reason to believe Fensore can find success, as hockey is consistently evolving. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic expressed optimism:

“Are there 5-foot-7, 154-pound defencemen who are successful in today’s NHL? No. In fact, 5-foot-8 Joe Hicketts, the smallest player to play at hockey’s top level this season, got into just 11 games this season — and he weighs 180 pounds. But today’s game is not tomorrow’s game, hockey is changing and players with unique offensive talent and high-end four-direction skating are the ones who are going to surpass expectations and change the way we view modern defencemen. Fensore is skilled enough to potentially become one of those players.” – Scott Wheeler, NHL writer (The Athletic)

After having a successful season in the US Development Program, Fensore moved along to Boston University, where he’s enjoying statistical success. After scoring 7 points in his first 17 games, he’s heated up of late, with 7 points in his last 7 outings – for a total of 3 goals and 14 points in 24 games, and a +5 rating.

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• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
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Fensore is the youngest player on his team, and yet as a defenseman he ranks 5th on his team in scoring. Obviously he doesn’t lack skill, and his production at a young age against college competition warrants keeping a close eye on his development over the next few years.

As a defender, he’s been compared to Matt Grzelcyk, another undersized offensive-defender who came up through the Boston U program.

Moving ahead, there’s a ton of questions that need clear answers in regards to Fensore’s projection as an NHLer – one of which is where he projects to play. If he can’t overcome his size as a defender, can he make it work as a forward, or will his dynamic skill set be lost in the shuffle due to his size?

Regardless, the amount of mystery mixed with Fensore’s extremely appealing skating and attacking abilities make him not only one of the most intriguing prospects in the Canes organization, but one of the league’s biggest mysteries as a whole. Fensore could be the leader of a new wave of NHL defenseman, and that fact alone makes him an essential prospect to keep tabs on.

Question for CC Readers: Which under-the-radar prospects excite you?