NHL Draft profiles: Big defenseman Pulkkinen made even bigger strides

This is the 15th story in a series of player profiles from the NHL's Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., focusing on potential second-round picks for the Penguins at 44th and 46th overall.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Defenseman Jesse Pulkkinen was first eligible for the draft last summer. He didn't hear his name called through seven rounds.

Entering this season, the left-handed Pulkkinen was given a "W" rating by NHL Central Scouting in the preseason rankings, a designation given to players to "watch" as potential sixth- or seventh-round selections. But after a fast rise and taking major strides in his development, Pulkkinen could hear his name called as early as the second round later this month in Las Vegas.

Pulkkinen, a 19-year-old Finn, doesn't speak much English at all. So after his fitness testing at the NHL Scouting Combine earlier this month in Buffalo, N.Y., the league's PR enlisted one of the few other Finns there -- anticipated first-round pick Konsta Helenius, whose English was OK -- to fill in as translator for Pulkkinen's media availability. 

Asked if he gained some extra motivation by getting passed over in the draft last summer, Pulkkinen said, "Yeah." Asked if he was surprised that he wasn't picked, he said "No."

"It wasn't a good season," he explained through his impromptu translator.

He's not wrong. 

Pulkkinen is huge, at 6 foot 6 and 219 pounds, and he uses that size. He's physical. While a lot of defensemen with that reach and strength might be more defensive, shutdown defensemen, Pulkkinen is an offensive defenseman. And three seasons ago he did put up the points. He plays in the Finnish club JYP's system, and he spent much of that 2021-22 year with JYP's U18 team, where he scored 11 goals and 17 assists in 40 games, while also racking up 110 penalty minutes. He moved up to JYP's U20 team for the 2022-23 season ... and the scoring fell off completely. He had four assists in 43 games. Not ideal to do in your draft year. 

This year? Still playing for the U20 team to start, he had 11 goals and 17 assists in 18 games. He got recalled to JYP's big club in Liiga, the top Finnish league, and spent most of the year there, scoring two goals and six assists in 29 games.

He made Finland's U20 squad for the World Junior Championship, and finished second among Finnish defensemen in scoring with a goal and two assists in seven games. He was teammates with a pair of Finnish defense prospects in Emil Pieniniemi and Kalle Kangas in the tournament, who both went scoreless in seven games. They all played on separate pairings -- Pulkkinen on the first, Pieniniemi on the second, and Kangas on the third.

Here's a look at Pulkkinen's lone goal in the tournament:

He picked off Brayden Yager along the boards to set up a scoring chance for Canada in the tournament opener, but Canadian goaltender Mathis Rousseau made the save:

Pulkkinen ended up beating Yager later in the game for an assist, blowing past Yager and carrying the puck to the slot to create a give-and-go that led to a goal:

With JYP failing to qualify for the playoffs, Pulkkinen went back down to the U20 team for its playoff run. His four goals in seven games tied for the team lead, and his 10 points were the second-most on the team.

What the heck changed this season?

"It was the first summer that he trained hard," Helenius said as translator. "That was the reason."

Pulkkinen said that he decided he had a future in hockey "last year." He credited the coach of Finland's U20 team, Lauri Mikkola, for instilling that belief in him, telling him that he "has a lot of potential." And just that mindset took Pulkkinen from a guy who was underperforming at the junior level to a contributor in the top men's league.

NHL director of European Scouting Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen told NHL.com this summer that "the biggest reason for (Pulkkinen's) success was that he realized his potential and started to practice harder. He is also not afraid to make mistakes and is always able and willing to try to do big things; he has a high ceiling."

As far as the specific areas of Pulkkinen's game that took leaps last season, he pointed to "everything." But he thinks his best asset is something he's had since he was 16, that size.

Helenius, asked to take on the role of scout in addition to his translator duties, was asked if Pulkkinen is "hard to play against." They were teammates at World Juniors, and opponents in the top league, and have become good friends. Helenius deadpanned a "No," before cracking up and offering his real take.

"He is!" Helenius said. "He's so big and strong. But I like to play with him, because he's such an active D. He scored a couple goals at the Czech tournament."

With such a turnaround from the previous season, rankings vary a lot on Pulkkinen for this draft. Some rankings have him pretty high in the second round: 33rd (both Bob McKenzie and FC Hockey) or 39th (Elite Prospects). Some have him significantly lower: 72nd (Draft Prospects Hockey), 76th (McKeen's Hockey) or 82nd (Smaht Scouting). But he's frequently ranked pretty close to where the Penguins pick at 44th and 46th: 42nd (both Flo Hockey and Daily Faceoff) or 43rd (Dobber Prospects).

Pulkkinen said he met with 25 teams at the combine, and the Penguins weren't one of them. That's not necessarily an indication of interest, given that teams don't always end up picking guys they interviewed this late in the draft.

Pulkkinen's definitely an intriguing option, especially given that the Penguins desperately need defense prospects. He has that size and definitely has a scoring touch -- but is still pretty raw given that he's such a late bloomer, only really putting things together over the last year. That's going to make him somewhat of a project for whichever team picks him, but he seems like a defenseman who could have a high ceiling if he's able to continue to keep making these strides.