I think the biggest concern with Siikanen is his skating. He is not slow when he gets his feet going but his overall mobility, agility and first steps are not on the required level. On the offensive side, he has fairly good skills. He can protect the puck and he knows where to go, but he lacks sharpness. Also, his passing game left a lot to be desired. Often his passes didn’t connect or went directly to the opponent’s skates and those situations caused some unnecessary giveaways.

But as the goals highlighted, he is really good in front of the net. Siikanen is big and strong player for this level. And even though I would like to see more physicality from him, he already utilizes his size well.

Siikanen had a pretty good, yet slightly inconsistent game for Blues U20 in a 5-0 preseason win over Pelicans. He displayed offensive prowess in the first period and made one clever wraparound scoring attempt. He used his stick really well and backchecked effectively to close gaps and apply pressure throughout the game. Siikanen’s skating looked quicker than in the past season, thanks to a more smooth and efficient stride. However, his first few steps, agility and footwork still require work. He turned the puck occasionally over in bad spots, would have liked to see more composure and confidence with the puck.