case Salmelainen
19. (9) Tony Salmelainen RW – 23 – Toronto Roadrunners (AHL)
Draft: 2nd Round, 41st 1999 Grade: 7D Projection: Scoring forward NHL: As fast as Todd Marchant
Falling the farthest on this edition of the top 20 rankings is Finnish speedster Tony Salmelainen. After a promising campaign in Toronto where he compiled 44 points in 57 AHL games and had a short stint with the Oilers, Salmelainen disappointed this year with a mere 44 points in 76 contests. It was Salmelainen’s third AHL season which draws parallels to the underachievement of a fellow countryman last year.
“He had a tremendous start, but it was the same thing with Rita the previous year and they seemed to hit the wall for some reason,” Prendergast said. “After his start we were thinking he could get 90 points and have a fantastic year but he just petered right out.”
As the season ended, the friendly and outgoing winger was honest about his year and admitted that he was as disappointed as everyone else.
“The beginning was good and somehow when the whole team went down, I was going with them,” he said. “I tried to step up but I just couldn’t help the team win games and that’s what I’m disappointed about because I think I should have been better at the times when the team struggled the most offensively.”
Upon returning to his homeland, Salmelainen promptly signed a new contract for the coming year with HIFK Helsinki, the team that gave him his professional start. Both the player and the Oilers are not ruling out a return to Edmonton and the NHL but it doesn’t seem likely for 2005-06.
“We’ll see what happens, maybe signing in Finland will make him a better player; he’s still a prospect as far as we’re concerned,” confirmed Prendergast.
Ei näytä todennäköiseltä Tonyn lähtö tämän mukaan, mutta sormet ristiin kun on galna dagar hela tiden!
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