We’re on to forwards now! Good thing, too. There’s only so many board battles and making sure a kid is in position in front of his goalie you can watch before you start to go cross-eyed.
Mercifully to start, we’ve got a guy who seems like a perfectly cromulent pick for anyone looking to shore up the 200-foot game of their forward corps. Let’s go all the way to sunny Finland to meet Jukurit’s Konsta Helenius!
Who is he?
Konsta Helenius is a Finnish-Born Center/Right Wing who measures up at 5’11, and weighs in at 181 pounds. His official club is Tampereen Tappara, but has been on loan playing for Mikkelin Jukurit in the Finnish top league (Liiga) since 2022.
What’s he good at?
Honestly? A little bit of everything.
Konsta Helenius’ loan to Jukurit has been a blessing in disguise for both player and team, giving the poor kid a place to play away from the extremely high demands of Tappara (historically the Finnish league’s most successful club) and a way to find himself as a player. Where would he excel? Would he find himself a defensive stalwart? A scoring phenom? A power play specialist? a penalty killing nightmare? A forechecking beast?
Konsta Helenius made the smart call and decided, at the young age of 17, playing against grown-ass men, that he’d do a little bit of everything in order to succeed, and do it at a professional level from the word “go”.
We use the phrase Hockey IQ a lot and sometimes it feels like it becomes shorthand for “playing the right way”…which can mean anything. But even from clips, you get the real feeling that Helenius’ biggest strengths are from being just… REALLY smart. Not just with the puck, but away from it as well. His ability to assess, acknowledge, and then adapt to the play as it’s happening to him made him a considerable asset for Jukurit; using his smooth stride and quick acceleration to close gaps in the defensive zone before a pass to a forechecker is completed, or to give a second chance opportunity and recollect the puck in the offensive zone, which he usually turned around into a killer accurate shot that he can unleash from just about anywhere (but tended to bias from below the circles) made more than one goalie in Liiga this year look a bit silly for not trying to stop it.
That quick, powerful release on his shots and passes has allowed him to consistently fool defenses in a way that allows him to draw skaters to him in the hope of keeping his shot off the board, and allow him to create offense from nifty passing and strong, tight plays. In his own end, his active skating and willingness to keep the puck carrier harried has made him a ferocious backchecker, one that takes ample advantage of the sometimes more patient nature of Liiga in order to force the opponent to make a lesser play.
While sure, 36 points in 51 games seems a bit low, I need to remind you that this was done in Liiga. As in, Top league Finnish Liiga. Full of 25-to-40 year grizzled men who’ve had careers on teams measured in decades. In those leagues, you must earn your keep, and Helenius in his draft year nearly played an entire season for a top team in the league, and was a point-per-game in the playoffs, with 6 points in 6 games. Helenius’ consistency in all areas didn’t just give him a chance to succeed this year, it gave him a chance to thrive.
What does he need to work on?
Helenius is pretty good at all aspects of the game and really has a bunch of nitpicks that are borne from the fact he plays in Liiga and not in some Junior league lighting the entire universe on fire. He’s a little small, but not too small to make him a poor choice. He’s not always super physical, but he’s smart when committing to checks; ensuring that the opponent loses the puck when he throws the body and he’ll happily throw down with the many people in Liiga who have mortgages if the need calls for it.
Really, the biggest thing he needs to work on is proving that he doesn’t have a low ceiling. Proving that is super hard to do unless he thrives in North America right away, because he’s just about good at everything…but he isn’t great at any particular aspect of the game. His speed is good and his skating is smooth, but his top speed isn’t mindbending. His skill with the puck is extremely strong and he’s more than willing to use a stop-start move or clever stick position to try and avoid backchecks, but he’s rarely going to deke anyone out of their skates unless absolutely necessary. His shot’s really good! It’s just not a cannon like other forwards listed higher than him. His physicality is solid, especially for a Liiga player, but it’s not fearsome like others.
His biggest asset is and will always be his mind and his playmaking ability; those will serve him well…but is that enough? If he bulks up and gets used to NHL ice…is he going to be just as good? Or turn out to merely be serviceable?
My Verdict
I’m torn on this one.
Konsta Helenius fits the ideal of what you’d like a Middle 6 forward to be; responsible, smart, capable with the puck, and has the necessary offensive instincts and hand-eye coordination to be a menace at the NHL level. A lineup that badly needs a center who can do a little bit of everything would benefit greatly from his presence.
…But I’m not sure the Kraken don’t already have that. That sounds exactly what a center corps of Wright-Beniers-Gourde give you in the short term, and there are still yet more interesting Centers in junior awaiting the team. I think Helenius’ play against pro-level opponents would give him a leg up, but given that his position has been “eternally useful but not transcendent”…I’m afraid he might get lost in the shuffle as a Kraken.
I really like players like Helenius a lot. Kids who play his game are ones that I think can have very strong careers, but it takes a careful hand to guide them, and a chance to play them consistently at the NHL level. I don’t think he’d get that with Seattle.
I’m sure he’ll do fine on whatever middle-tier Metropolitan team drafts him in place of the Kraken. He’s good, but there are better forwards available this year.
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