Player Preview: Sami Vatanen

December 11, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) moves the puck against the defense of Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen (45) during the first period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Weaknesses:

Size will always be his biggest limitation for Sami Vatanen: he’s only 5’10, which is below average by NHL standards. His lack of size and bulk means that he gets knocked off the puck at times, so he must add muscle and get stronger without sacrificing the speed that makes him so dangerous. He also needs to continue to work on improving his play in the defensive zone: he’s an electric playmaker, but he will earn more meaningful minutes with strong defensive play. Because he is small, durability could be a concern: how well can he handle playing a lot of minutes over a long season? Even if he does improve as a defender, Vatanen will always struggle to take on bigger power forwards, effectively limiting his minutes against some teams, especially in the Pacific Division, where forwards with size are everywhere.