Ontario Reign: Aatu Jamsen Making an Impact in Year Two

Editor’s Note: Aatu Jamsen is currently out with an injury, but this interview was conducted on Tuesday, March 3rd.

The chances of seventh-round draft picks making an NHL roster are extremely slim. Aatu Jamsen, 22, a seventh-round draft pick in 2020 by the LA Kings, offers a unique skillset despite his draft status.

For starters, he has a good shot. He is also crafty with his playmaking and is a silky stickhandler, with great edgework in tight coverage. With those tools, you could see why the Kings signed him to a two-year entry-level contract, convincing him to come over to North America almost two years ago. However, like most prospects coming overseas, Jamsen endured challenges in his first season with the Ontario Reign. Having arrived on scene from Europe, the transition to the hockey style in North America was an adjustment that had its expected growing pains.

“I think adjusting to the AHL game style with the smaller [ice] rink,” said Jamsen, of the smaller ice rinks being one of the biggest obstacles he encountered in his rookie AHL season. “You don’t have much time [to make plays]. I think that was the biggest thing.”

For a finesse player like Jamsen, the wider ice rinks he played on in Liiga (Finland) were used to his advantage. The more space he had, the more time he had to make plays for himself or his teammates. That’s not the case in the AHL. With the ice sheet not as large as in Liiga, decision-making needs to be quick, and the game is more physical.

Although Jamsen measured at 6’2, he wasn’t physically built up. That led to him getting knocked off the puck or sustaining an injury after a hit. Knowing he had to bulk up, Jamsen made it his goal to add strength in the offseason (he didn’t specify how much muscle he added).

“Yeah, I focused on that because of the smaller rink; you have to battle way more than back in Europe. So, that was the one goal, too,” Jamsen mentioned.

Now, having a full year of North American hockey under his belt and an offseason of getting stronger and training, Jamsen is enjoying success in his second year in Ontario. Currently sidelined with an injury, Jamsen had 17 points (11 G, 6 A) in 24 games and has emerged as one of Ontario’s best players while playing a middle-six role and getting time on the second power-play unit.

Not only has the scoring been called up, but he has noticeably looked stronger with the puck, taking it to the net on two occasions by fending off a defender to score a goal. Some may have seen this recent uptick in scoring as a surprise, but Jamsen knew it was only a matter of time before the points started to pile up.

“I think it was just a matter of time,” he said. “Even though I didn’t have that many points in the first 30 games that I played, I was still doing a lot of the small things well, and now it’s just like a snowball effect.”

With his confidence at an all-time high before missing the previous three games with an injury, the Finnish forward has felt and looked comfortable with the game seeming to slow down for him.

“I like to make small, quick plays, and you have to do a lot of those things here. So it’s fun. It’s fun this year,” he said. ” I’m not rushing plays this year. I feel like I can slow the game down when I’m skating on rushes. I have more patience in my game this year.”

In total, Jamsen has 25 points (15 G, 10 A) in 51 games; that is right around half a point per game. The Kings have had success in developing prospects in the late rounds, and if Jamsen continues to build on the strides he’s made in year two, maybe another player can be added to those late-round development successes.

Featured image credit: Megan Sanders/Ontario Reign

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