By Russ Cohen
Konsta Helenius is a big name heading into the 2024 NHL Draft, but I feel like many fans don’t know about him. He will be on the big stage at the 2024 World Juniors, so that will help. For now, I wanted to talk about this center for a moment.
I always tell fans who have teams that won’t fall into the top five of this year’s draft that they are definitely missing out on a potential franchise center. If I count Ivan Demidov as a center, then there are three in the top 10 and two in the top five at this point of the draft season.
Helenius is very smart. He can start the rush with a smart pass or deke around defenders to get the offense going. Honestly, the fact that he’s 5’11” isn’t noticeable. He averaged more than a point and a half per game in the U17s. Then more than a point-per-game in the U18s.
This season while playing in Liiga, I used some of the numbers from InStat. He’s getting over 17 minutes of ice time while winning 53% of face-offs. He’s taking 4.4 shots per game. He can score goals, but he’s more of a playmaker. He’s only averaging 21% in defensive zone starts, but he’s playing against men at the age of 17.
A solid World Juniors and end to his season could be a Top Five ranking, but there’s plenty of time between now and then.
