I caught just about everyone by surprise in November when my submission to the EliteProspects Rinkside 2020 NHL Draft ‘Watch List’ series included Sioux City Musketeers centre Joel Määttä.

It’s Määttä’s punishing net-front presence and two-way reliability down the middle that creates value in excess of what his pedestrian stat line suggests. Even so, the boxcars start to look better when one considers the environment that the Musketeers offered as the Eastern Conference’s worst team — a setting made worse at the deadline as they dealt most of their complementary talent to kickstart their rebuild.

There’s more than meets the eye with Määttä, and we’re going to explore how this Finnish import built the case for a late-round selection in his first season of North American hockey.

Born in Hels