The offseason seems to have finally fully thawed with the first games of the prospect tournament in the books. It wasn’t always pretty, and the teams certainly didn’t have regular-season poise, but professional hockey is back in season at last.
For Detroit, the first goal scorer for the Red Wings prospect tournament last night wasn’t even a player drafted by the organization, but Jesse Kiiskinen, one of two former Nashville Predators draftees now playing for Detroit.
Kiiskinen has spent the past three years in the top Finnish league, and while not the most heralded of prospects, the 6-foot-1 former third-round pick has been raising his stock and his physicality as he preps for a full season on North American ice.
Go Ad-Free
Finishing Touch
While Kiiskinen doesn’t appear to be in line quite yet for a spot on the Red Wings roster, the young Finn proved that his 2024-25 season playing at just under a point-per-game pace (14 goals, 30 assists in 46 games) wasn’t a fluke. The 197-pound winger upped his goal-scoring totals last year to 17, though his total points dropped to 28.
However, Kiiskinen still finished in the top three of his team for offensive production and spotted three more points on HPK’s six-game playoff run. The young Finn’s production has mostly come from his ability to shoot hard and fast from the mid-range, but last night’s goal was emblematic of the effort and energy that Kiiskinen brings.
With smaller North American ice, he will get plenty of opportunities to throw his body around and mix things up with opponents in traffic. The Red Wings have plenty of players who play with that kind of energy, but not many combine that energy with the extra size and seeming durability to back it up for a full season.
