Born: 2001-01-11
Team: Tappara U20 / LeKi, Mestis
Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Left
Height / Weight: 6-0 / 170
FINAL 2019 NHL DRAFT RANKING
3. LW Patrik Puistola – Tappara (U20)
A highly skilled winger who can both score and set up scoring chances, Puistola has quick hands, very good vision and can shake off defenders with creative dekes. He goes to the high-scoring areas and generates a lot of chances from the slot. It often looks like he doesn’t shoot as hard as he could because he can pick his spots so well. He has a special finishing ability and he can score with a wrister, backhander or one-timer. His skating is starting to come along nicely. He has good mechanics but needs to add quickness. Puistola competes hard and is useful on the penalty kill. He is pretty good in his own end, but can be too stagnant at times, however.
REPORT: LEKI @ K-VANTAA (MESTIS), JANUARY 18, 2019
Puistola showed great chemistry with Kristian Tanus on the first line as LeKi edged K-Vantaa 6-4. The 17-year-old winger recorded one goal and one assist and played on the first power play unit, as well as on the penalty kill. Puistola is a smooth operator with the puck, possessing quick hands and very good vision in the offensive zone. I liked his poise and ability to hold onto the puck and wait for passing lanes to develop before distributing the puck. He’s an agile and fluid skater with good quickness in his first few strides. Defensively, he was quite responsible, though he could have been more alert in the defensive zone at times. Puistola was tenacious and used his stick well to win puck battles. Like most young players, he will need to gain additional muscle to improve his overall physical play. Puistola was ranked fourth in our latest 2019 NHL Draft rankings and has started to cement his spot in the top five with his strong play of late.