Basic Player Overview
2020/2021 Team: Kärpät Oulu (Liiga/U20 SM-sarja)
Position: Right Wing
Height: 177 cm / 5’10”
Weight: 75 kg / 165 lbs
Handedness: Right
Nationality: Finland
Introduction
Samu Tuomaala is an undersized forward who plays for Kärpät Oulu in the Finnish U20 SM-sarja for the second straight season. He scored an impressive 15 goals in 40 games with 23 points in total. This year he becomes a more all-round player in the offense, he’s a point-per-game player with balanced goals and assists. He also made his debut in Liiga this season. After five games he’s still waiting for his first point.
Shot and Offensive Zone plays
Tuomaala is known for his shooting ability. If you ask scouts or guys who watch Finnish hockey, they will tell you he is a natural goal-scorer, which he is. But it’s not only about his shot. When you want to score, you have to be in the right position to do so. You also have to be ready to receive the puck and release it. Tuomaala has everything.
When he’s in the offensive zone, he is always trying to make space around him to be dangerous. What’s also interesting, more than 50 % of the ice-time he spends in the offensive zone. In the five tracked games, he spent around 55 % in the O-zone and only 20 % in the defensive zone. He wants to score a lot of goals, but he also wants his team to score a lot of goals.
And this is an example. He scored on his own, but more importantly is what came before. He didn’t want to give the puck away, not make any pointless turnover. That’s why he held the puck even though he risked a little bit by the blue line, but he stayed on the puck and shot. Kind of a lucky goal, because the shot came from a distance, but he definitely takes it.
His game is based on speed. He can make quick strides and gain a high pace pretty quickly. In the next clip, we can see him use his speed, which is something he does well.
Protecting the puck with low posture.
Yes, Tuomaala is only 5’10” but his ability to hold the puck and protect it is strong. It reminds me of Mavrik Bourque from last year. He can lay back a little bit, he makes contact with the opponent, and thanks to his lowered posture, he’s able to stay on the puck and push himself in a better scoring position.
Just to prove his shot is lethal.
He slides through the neutral zone very quickly, he enters the O-zone on the right side, does a little toe-drag to get to the better spot for a shot, and scores.
All of these clips are from the junior level. He’s had a couple of opportunities in Liiga. Most of them were just in limited roles but we should expect more ice-time for him the next season. In Liiga he doesn’t change his style at all. He just doesn’t have enough time for his shots and making space around him is tougher. He’s dangerous around the net anyway. He hasn’t scored there, but the goalie had to be careful.
Tuomaala in the Defensive Zone
The interesting thing is eye-catching with Tuomaala in the defensive zone. He was criticized for being unreliable and irresponsible, and especially in front of his own net. He made a lot of turnovers there, he was trying to be creative and it cost his team high-danger chances against or even allowed goals. He took these words to heart and has changed it. At least he’s trying to.
He lowered his position in the defensive zone massively, he’s deep in the zone when the play is on the opposite boards but he’s also ready to accelerate by making a few quick strides to the defender on the blue line. He may be sometimes too deep, but it’s safer to be there than just being all the time out of position. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely progress.
Sometimes he speeds up in the deep position earlier than he should be. He’s always thinking of attacks and to be as fast in the neutral zone as possible. That’s one of the things he’s really good at. But sometimes he just rushes this decision. When there’s a slight chance that any of his teammates would get the puck anywhere in the D-zone, he moves forward, always between two defenders on the blue line. Very often the play is stopped yet before it started and he’s no longer in the right spot and he tends to get back there late.
U20 SM-sarja x Liiga
We can compare his performances in juniors and Liiga all day long and the differences would be still clearly visible. And it’s understandable for a young player that he’s dominant in one level and finding his game in another. It’s not only Tuomaala, but it’s also for example Askarov at World Juniors, it was Brandt Clarke when he played the first couple of games in Slovakia this season.
Let’s bring some examples. The shot, speed, confidence are the most obvious ones, so let’s look at something different. Ability to slow down the play in the defensive zone. As it’s written earlier, defensive work begins for Tuomaala with low positioning in the zone. He did pretty bad in this clip because he was too low and made a little spin that cost him time and also the right orientation in the area. He should be the player that goes right to the player (left defenseman) with the puck. He stayed low and after the shot, the puck landed on his stick.
And now, there’s the difference. Firstly, look at the play from Liiga, as it’s described above. He could have passed the puck to the player along the boards. That’s the safest solution. He could have held the puck, turn back, and set the new attack even though he would have been under pressure (but he can handle these situations in the juniors). What he did, little cross-pass that was stopped immediately and this giveaway led the play into the counter-chance.
A pretty similar play happened in juniors. Only the solution was different. The puck ended up on the Tuomaala’s stick, he saw a player forechecking him but he still turned around and pass to the defender who was all alone. A nice example of how to start an attack.
Conclusion
Samu Tuomaala is a shot-first player with great speed and the ability to protect the puck. He has similar flashes to Mavrik Bourque from last year. Even though this year’s draft will be very shaky, Tuomaala is expected to come to the board in the late first to the early second round.
Rankings
#15 – Recruit Scouting (November)
#28 – Recruit Scouting (February)
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