Born: 2004-07-19
Team: SaiPa
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Height / Weight: 5-11 / 187
Elmeri Laakso spent majority of last season with TPS U18, recording six goals and ten assists in 19 games. He also appeared in one game with TPS U20 before leaving for SaiPa U20, where he played in two regular season games and five playoff games. The 2004 born defenseman has great puck moving abilities and tries to be involved offensively as much as he possibly can. He can stretch the ice with long passes and he sees openings for transition plays. His passes are crisp and easy to handle. He is often at his best along the offensive blueline. Laakso can deliver passes through tight windows and he shows deception with head fakes and no-look plays. He is also a strong shooter with a mechanically sound wrist shot and he can pull the puck quickly into a shooting position. He is assertive defensively and wins stick battles. His size/skating combo is not high end, but otherwise I don’t have many issues regarding his future potential. I’ll be monitoring his development closely in the upcoming season.