The captain of Tappara’s U16 squad, Kurjanen was playing big minutes as his team’s top defenceman. Even though he was listed as 5’7”, he looked a lot bigger on the ice and played in every situation for the team, recording a primary assist on Tappara’s first goal of the game.

Kurjanen is a good skater with good agility and top speed. He did not hesitate in helping his forwards by supporting the play and creating nice zone exits by carrying the puck. Few times Kurjanen got caught out of position by playing too aggressively or made a risky play which ended up backfiring, but for the most part, he was able to cover for his mistakes with his skating.

In his own end, Kurjanen has still a lot of work to do positioning-wise, but I liked how he defended rushes by keeping a tight gap control with his stick. I also noticed that he was one of the most vocal players on the ice.