The NHL season is underway, and the Islanders are firing on all cylinders as they have started the season as strong as they ever have under Barry Trotz. Now that all of the world’s top leagues are in full swing, let’s wrap up the series looking at the Islanders’ 2021 NHL Draft class, putting the bow on it with the crown jewel of the class in Aatu Räty.

Räty, 19 on November 14, was born on November 14, 2002, in Oulunsalo, Finland. He spent his youth playing for Karpat 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 2019-20. As of November 9, 2021, scored 101 goals and 250 points in 223 games over five years since starting with the U16 program; however, his scoring decreased as he elevated through the ranks, only scoring five goals and adding six assists in 53 games with their professional team in the Liiga.

Räty 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, U18, and U20 World Junior tournaments. He has scored 39 goals and 75 points through four different years of international play.

The New York Islanders drafted Räty with their first selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the 52nd overall selection. That second-round pick was acquired alongside Richard Panik in the trade that sent defenseman Nick Leddy to the Detroit Red Wings. Islanders fans were pleased with Räty’s selection as many believed that he was a first-round talent that had slid to the second round after struggling this past season, which was brought up earlier. He was a buy-low selection who needs to get stronger and find himself in more dangerous areas more often in order to continue to progress further in his development.

Räty’s 2021-22 campaign has been a somewhat confusing one, as after continuing to struggle with Karpat (scoring one assist in six games) after spending the preseason with the Islanders and playing well enough to earn an entry-level contract, they started to make him a healthy scratch, which is not uncommon for young players in the Liiga, but for someone like Räty who had played at that level on an everyday basis, it seemed to be a little confusing for Islander fans. After the dust settled, Karpat found a move for Räty as they traded him and defenseman Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi to Jukurit for former Toronto Maple Leafs’ sixth-round selection, defenseman Axel Rindell. The move has worked thus far because as of November 9, he has scored twice and added two assists in two games.

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, Tomas Machu, and Aleksi Malinen in the previous articles in this series. I would like to thank Will for participating in this series. Make sure to check him out on Twitter, Youtube, on his website, and maybe even consider supporting him on Patreon! Also, expect to see him make appearances in some prospect content in the future.

“Ahhhh Aatu Räty… I can’t deny that I was disappointed with my viewings of him in 2020-21 while in Liiga. He certainly didn’t put up the production you usually see in a first-round NHL draft pick, let alone a high first-rounder, but it felt like he was playing with the weight of the universe on his shoulders. Overconfidence with the puck, inconsistent puck control, an inability to get consistent quality chances, plenty of factors blended together to make many people rightfully skeptical, but I’m holding strong on him. When he was sent back to play U20 competition in Finland, he was simply outstanding. Speed, skill, playmaking, driving shots himself from in front of the net, remarkable offensive transition talent, lots to love, but his Liiga play remained inconsistent. I know that at least some teams had Räty as a plain DND, and while I’m unaware of personal issues that would warrant such a rating, it may explain why he slipped as far as he did in the draft.

Why am I diamond-handsing Räty through everything? I’ve seen what he’s capable of. With Karpat in my tracked data, there were signs of Räty being a player trying to create while on the ice, but rarely rewarded or receiving tangible assistance from linemates. He was involved in 34% of all offensive transitions while on the ice and maintained control on a remarkable 76% of his team’s offensive transitions. 16% of his team’s shot attempts were Räty from dangerous areas of the ice. He entered the offensive zone with control of the puck almost 70% of the time, good for top-20 in my entire dataset, and in pretty much every metric besides shot attempt metrics and raw passing volume, Räty was far, far better than his draft position.

My thinking has always been that a change of scenery could potentially reset him and get him more comfortable, and his early returns on a midseason transfer to Jukurit have been remarkable, playing over 50% more minutes per game and being rewarded with four points. I’d still like him to get stronger, and get to even more dangerous areas to generate chances, but as a buy-low draft pick for the Islanders, I’m a big fan. It may take a few years, but I remain optimistic.”

SEF