Drafted Valimaki this year. He’s going to be a terrific two-way Dman who puts up points at ES and on the PP. I think of him as a poor man’s Heiskanen, or a young Petry, great skater and will be an impact player. His ppg performance in La Liiga was one for the ages - as with Puljujarvi, no guarantee that it translates immediately, but it turned heads and bodes well.
Patience is going to be key - he’s on 3rd pairing now with Nesterov and they are excellent in that role, so unlikely that changes soon. and getting zero PP time with Giordano and Andersson ahead of him. But all it takes is one injury abd he starts getting top 4 minutes and PP opportunity. Incidentally his PP strength is not a mean shot like Andersson, it’s the QBing and passing, which in the end I think will be a better fit given where NHL PPs are going.
I see him putting up 25 pts (mostly ES) this year, with decent peripherals, and then as of next year you see him start threatening 0.5ppg.
Between him and Dobson, it’s Dobson for sure in the short term, but i’m pretty confident keeper-wise Valimaki will be more valuable.