North American professional hockey has commenced, with the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and college and junior leagues all skating in regular-season action. That also means most, if not all Islanders prospects are lacing up the skates in games. To continue the series looking at the Islanders’ 2021 NHL Draft class, it is now time to dig into defenseman Aleksi Malinen.

Malinen, 18, was born on May 26, 2003, in Tuusula, Finland. He spent his youth playing for JYP and has moved up the ranks, playing for their U16, U18, and U20 teams before making his professional debut with the top-level team in 2020-21. As of October 26, he has scored 13 goals and 56 points in 170 games over five years since starting with the U16 program.

Malinen has played for Finland’s National Team at the U16, U17, U18, and U20 levels. He has played at general international tournaments, as well as the U17-WHC and U18 World Junior tournaments. He has totaled four goals and seven points through four different years of international play,

The Islanders drafted Liukas in the sixth round with the 189th overall selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He is an athletic defenseman who is explosive with the puck on his stick, beating forecheckers and creating clean zone exits. His passing needs some work, but as he grows as a player, that will develop over time.

For a second opinion, I once again reached out to Will Scouch. Scouch is a McKeen’s Hockey contributor and founder of Scouching, where he takes both aspects of the “eye test” and advanced analytics to give a different perspective on the game to fans, especially focusing on the draft. You can check out his scouting reports on Cameron Berg, Eetu Liukas, Tristan Lennox, and Tomas Machu in the previous articles in this series.

“Aleksi Malinen is a curious one. A defender I’d be happy to bet on late in the draft, he’s a confident, aggressive skater who challenges opponents directly with his feet and a decent level of skill. I felt he was a step outside his comfort zone with Jyväskylä’s men’s team last year, with poor defensive transition and defensive zone results, and underwhelming puck management offensively, but being back in the junior levels seems to be a better spot to work on building his strengths. There’s potential, and as a late-round swing, I’m curious to see where his game goes, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if the bigger ice in Finland and a coach willing to let him stretch his legs out with the puck may make him a good longtime Liiga player. I’ll always bet on aggressive puck-moving defenders who can skate and build on that though, so I’m excited to see where his career goes in the Islanders system.”

SEF