Räsänen logged 22 minutes and 13 seconds for Jukurit U20 in a 6-4 loss to HIFK U20. He was on the ice during four HIFK goals today; however, the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2017 seventh round pick improved his puck management as the game progressed.

Räsänen is a tall defenseman with solid mobility. He has some nice agility and his transition skating from forward to backwards and vice versa is notably smooth. He gave mostly short passes in the first two periods but I really liked some of his longer passing plays later in the game. He has fairly good poise and vision. However, his positioning without the puck and gap control need definitely improvement. He also played somewhat cautiously in his own end and his reactions were a little bit slow. He will need to play with a little bit more snarl in defensive situations, especially along the boards.

Räsänen has some offensive ability and can move respectably well, but like many young defensemen he will need plenty of time to develop his weaknesses, particularly defensive game and strength. If he can round out his overall game, the blueliner could emerge as a pretty strong prospect for the Hurricanes in a few years.