Salmela was playing big minutes as KooKoo’s top defenceman in their 2-1 loss against JYP. He recorded a secondary assist on the power play. Having played the majority of this season with the U20 team and a decent amount of games with the Liiga team as well, KooKoo’s coaches relied on Salmela in every situation.

Salmela is a mobile blueliner with decent first few steps and top speed. He showed very good defensive awareness, making a couple of nice interceptions and always keeping a track of his man in his own zone. He could have been a bit more aggressive, especially defending against rushes. Salmela has a decent frame and he looked physically very mature for the U20 level.

Even though Salmela gets good grades for his defensive play, he doesn’t have much offensive upside. He doesn’t have much flash in his game and always prefers to make simple plays in every zone and situation. One could also say his development has stagnated a bit.

Salmela didn’t have points in this game and he didn’t register any shots, but he showed a lot of good things at the own end. He is an excellent player at the defensive zone for a player of his age having great gap control and solid positioning. His skating looked surprisingly heavy in this game, but he read the play well, defended well with his stick and even showed some physicality along the boards.

He is not a player who would be flashy offensively. Salmela has decent puck skills and especially his first pass is really good, but he usually keeps his game really simple and he has the defence-first mentality. He probably won’t become a constant offensive threat at the pro level, but he should have pretty bright future ahead as a stay-at-home defenceman

Salmela was one of the best Finns at the defensive zone against Czech Republic. He is not the kind of player who you put on ice when you are desperately trying to make a goal but he really excels at the own end. He can give really good first pass but don’t expect anything more offensively from him.

The biggest assets from Salmela are his skating and his own end play. He is relatively big player but his skating is fluid, his first steps are great and he has pretty good top speed too. Defensively he can keep up with the opponent thanks to his good mobility. His positioning, gap control and defensive game with his stick makes him reliable at the own end.

Salmela hasn’t generated much offense even at the junior level but despite that he has already played in a pro level. He has flaws in his game but his skill set should make him really efficient stay-at-home defenceman in the future.

Salmela recorded his first point in Liiga with an assist in a loss against Ilves. He played a solid game with 13.34 of ice time. He played with good poise and made simple but effective plays throughout the game. He defended well with his stick and his gap control was excellent. His skating was also very good.

He joined the rush a couple of times and supported the attack well. Despite being only 16 years old, Salmela didn’t look at all out of place among grown-up pro players.