Salminen was playing his second U20 regular season game with many players 3-4 years older than him. The 16-year old played third line LW, with the total playing time of 13:35, taking a few faceoff in the offensive end as well. He played a decent game until the third period, where after a long shift he took a bad offensive end slashing penalty. HPK scored on the powerplay and Salminen was benched for the rest of the game and overtime.

His overall performance consisted of reading plays well and trying to find offensive ideas around the crease and near the boards. Salminen’s skating looks light-footed and fast, yet not very powerful. Overall, I’d say he has potential to become quite a fast and skilled skater. Already a proven scorer on the junior B level from last year, the scoring potential for this level is already there thanks to reading plays well and showing creativity. Salminen is already tall at age of 16 and could still grow. With added muscle and more power to his skating, Salminen could look quite a offensive prospect.

Salminen was centering the top line and serving as alternate captain in Finland’s 2-4 loss against Russia at the U16 Four Nations tournament. He made a smart passing play from behind the net to record a primary assist on Finland’s second goal of the game.

Salminen’s most notable quality was his offensive hockey sense. He made multiple smart plays with the puck and his passes in the offensive zone were surprising and creative especially on the man-advantage, as he was running the top power-play unit from the right half-wall. Salminen has solid puck skills and the ability to make moves in tight spaces.

Salminen’s skating looked OK overall, but he especially needs to work on his first few steps. Salminen has already a good frame at 6 foot 2 and has good reach, but at the same time he is rather slim and lost quite a significant amount of puck/board battles.