2017-18 Player Reviews: Miikka Salomaki

Miikka Salomaki is not the most impactful forward on the Nashville Predators. He is a role player or a specialist, if you will.

He’s also one of the more physically imposing players on the team. Finishing with the 4th most hits on the team, despite logging only the 18th most even strength minutes, indicates his skill set as well as his role. Plus, he not only hits people, he hits them hard.

(That hit was two years ago, but who cares, it’s fun to watch.)

But when it comes to the puck, Salomaki’s game does not lead to much action on the ice, as illustrated best by his on-ice rates per hour from HockeyViz:

When Salomaki’s skating, the puck is basically frozen to the ice.