2018 NHL Entry Draft Prospect Profile: Rasmus Kupari

Name: Rasmus Kupari

Team: Karpat (Liiga)

Stats: 6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points

Position: Center

NHL Central Scouting Ranking: 11th (European Skaters)

Every draft, there are players that leave scouts and observers confused. Sometimes there are bad reasons for this, like Eeli Tolvanen — most likely because of his grades — and other times there are good reasons.

In Rasmus Kupari’s case, he played for one of the best teams in Finland in a man’s league, and thus didn’t get as much ice time (averaging 12 minutes a game) as he would have had in a lower league. Despite this, he’s a first-round talent. In the junior Liiga, he had seven points in 11 games. He had three points in four games for Finland’s U18…