Coming in at 19 of the Coyotes 25 under 25 is Finnish forward Aku Räty.
The 2021/22 season is fast approaching, so here at Five For Howling, we’re taking a look at this year’s Arizona Coyotes 25 best players under the age of 25.
In the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the Arizona Coyotes selected forward Aku Räty from Oulu, Finland. So far, the 6’0” 187-pound right wing has played exclusively in Europe, and it remains to be seen if he will make the jump to North America.
20/21 League: Kärpät U20, Kärpät
Games played: 2, 36
Goals: 0, 4
Assists: 0, 3
World Juniors games: 7
World Juniors goals: 2
World Juniors assists: 1
Highest rating: 13
Lowest rating: 23
Last year’s rankings: 18
Aku Räty is a tough player to evaluate.
Last season, he spent most of his time with Kärpät in Liiga, and he doubled his goals in only four more games. But his assists dropped, and he still finished low on the stats sheet.
He played for Finland again in the World Juniors and finished with two goals and an assist in seven games. Finland did win bronze at this year’s tournament, giving Räty his first international medal.
While he hasn’t been overly impressive, Räty has gained plenty of experience that should help him in the long run. Liiga is a men’s league, and while he may be struggling now, he will hopefully benefit from the quality of competition. And while he wasn’t a game-breaker at the World Juniors, he did have two years of experience playing with the best prospects in the world.
The Arizona Coyotes have a lot of needs moving forward. The team was stripped down to the studs, and they will need to build back from the beginning with fresh players. We don’t know if Räty will be part of the rebuild or what role he will play, but for now, he remains an intriguing prospect for the Coyotes.
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