Born: 2003-01-03
Team: HIFK U20
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Height / Weight: 6-0 / 161
REPORT: KIEKKO-ESPOO @ HIFK U20, AUGUST 5, 2021
Kuivas is a new addition to HIFK U20 from Kärpät, where he played with the U18 team for the past two seasons. He logged quality minutes in this preseason game and had a lot of power play time. He showed strong physical play below the dots and competed well in his own zone. He pinned opponents into the boards, played the body effectively and made life difficult to forwards along the boards. Most often, he maintained a tight gap off the rish and prevented the opposition from creating quality offensive opportunities and gaining easy zone entries. Kuivas is a mobile defenseman, however, he didn’t show a huge amount of explosiveness and could have had more effective crossover steps. He gave firm and accurate passes on the breakout; however, on Kiekko-Espoo’s second goal he lost control of the puck in a crucial spot. All things considered, Kuivas was solid on the backend for HIFK. His willingness to battle and compete stood out.