When the New York Islanders traded defenseman Nick Leddy prior to the 2021 NHL Entry Draft in order to shed salary, many people did not think highly of the return as it was mainly perceived as a “cap dump”. Little did everyone know that one week later during the second day of the draft, the Islanders would use that second-round selection acquired with Richard Panik, who had 50% of his salary retained, on Aatu Räty. Räty, once regarded as the top player in the 2021 draft class, was falling down draft boards after being projected by many to be drafted in the late first round. The Islanders were able to draft him at pick 52, and sign him to an entry-level contract less than a month later. Aatu Räty began this season with Kärpät after being loaned to the Liiga club by the Islanders, but after struggling to begin the season, he was moved to Jukurit.

Just a few months later, it can be said that the loan to Jukurit was the best move that could have been made for Aatu Räty’s development.

Beginning the season with Kärpät in the bottom-six, he was not getting a lot of ice time, and his linemates were not as offensively skilled as he tallied just one assist in six games. After the move to Jukurit, he is now playing top-six minutes with more offensively-gifted linemates. 21 games into his tenure with Jukurit, Aatu Räty has scored eight goals and has added 12 assists for 20 points. He is playing much more confidently with Jukurit than he was at Kärpät. Nothing has changed in his overall game, but he has been able to put it all together with his new linemates much more than he was before his move.

I reached out to Will Scouch to ask for a second opinion on how the move for Räty has impacted his development. 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. He contributed to my “Digging Into the Islanders’ 2021 NHL Draft Class” series, including the Räty article linked earlier. I would like to thank Will for adding his insight and make sure to check him out on Twitter, Youtube, on his website, and maybe even consider supporting him on Patreon!

“Räty’s move to Jukurit has been a welcome one. I’ve long held that his issues are exacerbated by playing bottom-six minutes with bottom-six Liiga talent and struggling to fit in and drive results as a unit. Räty was a great puck transporter through it all and landed his chances, but was clearly off his game mentally. Missing the net, overhandling, trying to force too much individual play, etc.

Moving to Jukurit immediately boosted his ice time and linemate quality and it has significantly paid off. From what I’ve seen, nothing in his game has necessarily changed, but his linemates are giving him more chances to score than he was receiving, and he’s making simpler, more effective plays to drive offense. The puck transportation is still there, and it just seems that the situation he’s been placed in is much more beneficial for him. Does this mean he can’t drive a line and make anyone he plays with look better? Potentially, but he’s clearly outperforming expectations to this point, and all it took was a change of scenery, some more ice time, and some new players to play with.”

The move from Kärpät to Jukurit for Aatu Räty has been beneficial for his development, and one of the Islanders’ highly-touted prospects will have eyes on him for years to come.

SEF