Drafted out the the Finnish Junior Hockey system, Aatu Jämsen was a bit of a mystery pick for the Los Angeles Kings late in the seventh round of the 2020 NHL Draft. But the young winger hasn’t missed a step since joining the Pelicans Under-20 team in the Junior A tier, putting up 29 points in 19 games so far this season.
Jämsen currently leads the Pelicans in points and assists (20), while ranking third in goals (9). He also ranks sixth in the league in points and second in assists. Last month, Julian Mongillo, a scout at DobberProspects, described him as “a very crafty winger with raw talent that needs to be refined.”
The Pelicans are a bit of a tradition for the Jämsens family. Aatu’s older brother Juuso plays in the Pelican’s club in Mestis, Finland’s second-tier men’s league, and has been sent down to his brother’s team for three games so far this season. He currently leads the Peliitat in points. Their father, Lasse Jämsen, played over 500 games with the Pelicans’ top-tier team in the Liiga.
Here’s a quick glance at how the rest of the Kings are doing abroad (Note: I broke it down by league, to give an easy comparison of how players in the same league are performing. This does mean that goaltenders Juho Markkanen and Lukas Parik, as well as forward Kasper Simontaival have multiple entries, as they have been shifted up and down between leagues):
-HockeyAllsvenskan-
Samuel Fagemo, LW/RW
Team: Södertälje SK | 2020-21 Stats: 17 GP, 5 G, 5 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 194 | Shoots: R
Carl Grundström, LW/RW
Team: IF Björklöven | 2020-21 Stats: 10 GP, 2 G, 6 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 194 | Shoots: L
Johan Södergran, LW/RW
Team: Almtuna IS | 2020-21 Stats: 12 GP, 1 G, 2 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 205 | Shoots: L
-SHL-
Helge Grans, D
Team: Malmö Redhawks | 2020-21 Stats: 11 GP, 2 G, 4 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 192 | Shoots: R
Lias Andersson, C/LW
Team: HV71 | 2020-21 Stats: 8 GP, 2 G, 4 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 22 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 205 | Shoots: L
Tobias Björnfot, D
Team: Djurgårdens IF | 2020-21 Stats: 8 GP, 0 G, 2 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 203 | Shoots: L
-U20 Mestis-
Juho Markkanen, G
Team: Ketterä U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 1 GP, 5.00 GAA, .815 SV% | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 146 | Catches: L
-U20 SM-sarja-
Aatu Jämsen, RW
Team: Pelicans U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 19 GP, 9 G, 20 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 157 | Shoots: L
Juho Markkanen, G
Team: SaiPa U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 4 GP, 2.50 GAA, .928 SV% | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 146 | Catches: L
-Mestis-
Kasper Simontaival, RW
Team: TUTO Hockey | 2020-21 Stats: 5 GP, 3 G, 4 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 5-9 | Wt: 172 | Shoots: R
Juho Markkanen, G
Team: Ketterä | 2020-21 Stats: 6 GP, 2.77 GAA, .890 SV% | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 146 | Catches: L
-Liiga-
Kasper Simontaival, RW
Team: Tappara | 2020-21 Stats: 5 GP, 0 G, 1 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 18 | Ht: 5-9 | Wt: 172 | Shoots: R
Kim Nousiainen, D
Team: KalPa | 2020-21 Stats: 11 GP, 3 G, 1 A | Nationality: FIN | Age: 19 | Ht: 5-10 | Wt: 170 | Shoots: L
Jacob Moverare, D
Team: SaiPa | 2020-21 Stats: 7 GP, 0 G, 1 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 198 | Shoots: L
-KHL-
Alexander Dergachyov, C/RW
Team: Vityaz Podolsk | 2020-21 Stats: 20 GP, 7 G, 4 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 24 | Ht: 6-5 | Wt: 216 | Shoots: L
Bulat Shafigullin, LW/RW
Team: Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 2020-21 Stats: 21 GP, 1 G, 2 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 163 | Shoots: L
-Czech U20-
Lukas Parik, G
Team: Bili Tygri Liberec U20 | 2020-21 Stats: 1 GP, 2.00 GAA, .926 SV% | Nationality: CZE | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 185 | Catches: L
-Czech2-
Lukas Parik, G
Team: HC Benatky nad Jizerou | 2020-21 Stats: 6 GP, 3.64 GAA, .881 SV% | Nationality: CZE | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 185 | Catches: L