Joakim Kemell
The Canadiens have struggled to score goals for many years and could be on the cusp of changing that fate if Cole Caufield pans out as expected and they select Joakim Kemell in the top five of the upcoming NHL Draft.
Kemell is playing this season in Finland’s top league, Liiga. It is not known for having plenty of teenagers lighting the lamp on a regular basis. In fact, many young players end up sitting on the bench for most of their games and don’t put up good offensive numbers.
Kemell is an exception for sure. In 21 games this season, he has already scored 12 goals and 18 points. In his draft year, Patrik Laine scored 17 goals and 33 points in 46 games. Aleksander Barkov scored 21 goals and 48 points in 51 Liiga games in his draft year. Kaapo Kakko was the second overall pick in 2019 after scoring 22 goals and 38 points in 45 games.
Kemell is on pace to be a much better goal scorer in his draft year than any of those aforementioned Finnish players who were all second overall picks.