Suomi was playing on the top defensive pairing in Blues’ 3-6 loss against JYP in the U16 league. He recorded one assist on the power play and was also used on the penalty kill.

Suomi was the most impressive defenceman on the ice. His skating looked overall very good, as he was able to evade forecheckers with ease and also create clean zone exits by carrying the puck. Suomi displayed very good puck skills. He made many great plays in the neutral zone with the puck, often beating one or two opposing forwards before passing the puck to his forwards. Suomi’s passes were crisp and precise, and he was able to avoid making any glaring mistakes.

When I saw Suomi play at the recent international event, he had some defensive issues and was in trouble against bigger opponents. In this game, he was able to defend more effectively and the physical play was not an issue despite being listed at only 5’7” and 121 pounds. That being said, his strengths are clearly on the offensive side of things.

Suomi was playing on the second pairing in Finland’s 1-3 loss against Sweden at the U16 Four Nations. He was featured on the second power-play unit but did not get any ice time on the penalty kill.

At 5 foot 7 and 121 pounds, Suomi is a tiny blueliner and was in trouble battling against much bigger forwards. That being said, he showed very smooth skating ability and excellent mobility. Suomi could have been more consistent with his opening passes, but on the power-play, he made many smart passes. Suomi was not much of a threat shooting-wise, so he was relying on distributing the puck to other players in the power-play unit. Suomi’s puck skills were also rather good for a defenceman.