There were many fans of Finland Hockey that were upset to see 6'2",180lb RHD Sebastian Soini left off the Hlinka roster, after all- he's been considered one of the top defensemen in his age group for a few years now. Even without a trip to that tournament, Soini has been busy enough this season with stops in Ilves' U18, and U20 leagues, and even a cup of tea with the top men's Liiga, with the longest stretch being on loan to Koovee of the Mestis- Finland's second tier, with 4 points in 23 games. Despite being amongst the youngest prospects in the upcoming draft with a June 10th birthday, he has looked solid, if not spectacular against men in limited ice-time.
Soini is a stalwart in the D zone, and is poised and patient with advance anticipation and awareness, proactive positioning, and airtight gap control. He will use his size and reach to break up plays, but has a fair amount of 1-on-1 skill, and is also a fearless shot-blocker. Soini's puck-movement game starts with his picturesque retrievals, and his ability to seamlessly convert the defense to offense with crisp, tape-to-tape breakout passes. He may not be a burner, but he's a smooth skater with 4-directional mobility and excellent balance and agility. He has the edges to pivot away from attackers, the east-west to get into lanes and block passes, and the backwards smoothness to maintain gaps. Soini will battle along the boards for posession, and uses his body to shield the puck, while also keeping the crease clean and tidy. He makes good decisions with the puck, particularly when making the first-pass, but has the skill and vision to pull off some high-end plays. Like most Europeans, he exhibits good puckhandling and control, and has built-in deception in his feet and stick to fool defenders, and beat them in one-on-one confrontations.
In 2022-23, Soini was the 7th highest scoring U-18 defenseman in the U20 league, at the tender age of 16, with 10 points in 28 games. It's hard to gauge his offense this season, as he's spent most of his time in a men's league, where youngsters like him are typically not given the ice-time or responsibility needed to put up numbers, but those stats suggest that the potential is there. In the Mestis, there are only currently 5 players under the age of 18 that have played there, and Soini has played the most games by far on that list, and is second in scoring to LW Ondrej Kos. Soini has a strong point shot, can find the passing lanes in the offensive zone, and has shown the ability to make smart pinches in the past. He needs to get stronger, and keep working on his speed, but I think he'll he be a middle-pairing D someday in the NHL. 2nd/3rd round.
theathletic.com
