Development camp: Could Kangas be diamond in rough?

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Defenseman Kalle Kangas came off as a pretty raw prospect when the Penguins selected him with the next-to-last pick in the entire draft last summer.

Kangas, who was only in his first year of draft eligibility, was already a giant of a human at 6 foot 4 and 205 pounds. While a good number of players coming from Finland had at least some experience at the professional level -- whether it be the top league Liiga or the second league Mestis -- Kangas had none. At the time, he had yet to play professional hockey at any level in Finland. He spent his draft year in the Jokerit system at the U20 junior level, where he recorded one goal, eight assists, 40 penalty minutes and a plus-15 rating in 42 games. 

"Kalle Kangas is a big defenseman, extremely hard to play against," then-director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor said of the pick at the time. "His skating is going to need to improve."

On the surface, it looked like the Penguins figured they might as well use pick No. 223 on a guy with something you can't teach -- size -- and hope that they can teach him the whole hockey part.

A year later, Kangas is looking like someone who really does have the potential to be a late-round gem.

Kangas, a 19-year-old left-handed shot, broke into the pro ranks in Finland as a regular last season, playing 40 games in a top-four role with Jokerit in the Mestis league.

"It was a fantastic step," Kangas, who doesn't speak English, said at last month's development camp through fellow Finnish defense prospect Joona Vaisanen acting as translator. "Next year, I'm willing to take that next step and get better."

Kangas finished the year with four goals and five assists in those 40 games, recorded a plus-10 rating and ranked 11th in the league with 67 penalty minutes. His four goals were the most he's had at any level, even going back to his U16 days. I asked Kangas what led to that increase in scoring, whether it's something he put extra work into going into the season. His answer in Finnish was brief, and Vaisanen laughed before translating -- "He said he has a fantastic shot."

Yeah, he's not wrong. That's a bomb:

He also showed a willingness and ability to move up in the play to chip in offensively when the opportunity presents itself:

Kangas' club Jokerit is remaining in the second-tier league next season ... so Kangas won't be back. He signed a two-year contract with HPK, a club in the top league.

"Kalle Kangas is a big defender whose strengths are in playing defense," HPK director Erkki Rajamaki said of signing Kangas. "He has played in various youth national teams and in Mestis, and now is the right moment to take the next step to the league level."

Kangas called HPK "a good spot for a young guy to go and develop in a way better league." And he thinks he'll be able to push for a full-time spot on the roster.

"I'm ready and willing to do whatever it takes to take that spot," he said.

During the season, Kangas cracked Finland's roster for the U20 World Junior Championship and played all seven games -- somewhat unexpected for such a late-round pick who was only 18 during the tournament. Well, unexpected to everybody but Kangas.

"It wasn't a surprise," Kangas said through Vaisanen of making the team. "But it was a great experience for me."

Kangas was scoreless in the seven games, but his plus-2 rating ranked second overall for the Finns in the tournament. Asked how he performed in the tournament personally, Kangas answered in English himself -- "Unbelievable."

Kangas is again a hopeful to make this year's World Junior squad, and he's got a pretty good shot. He's currently playing for Finland in the World Junior Summer Showcase, an exhibition tournament that also includes the U.S., Canada and Sweden and serves as part of the evaluation process for selecting the rosters for the main tournament in December. Through three games, Kangas has four assists -- tied for the most assists in the entire tournament, and tied for third overall in all tournament scoring:

Pretty hard to miss Kangas in any videos of the tournament -- he's still huge for his age and is always going to stand out. 

That skating that Pryor mentioned when Kangas was drafted still looked like it needed work at the Penguins' development camp last month. Especially in drills involving tight turns, Kangas was noticeably slower than his fellow defense prospects. But in drills that were more up his alley, like small-area games in which he was parked in front of the net, he stood out in a good way for his physicality and ability to clear the crease.

The Penguins really don't have many big, physical, "hard-to-play-against" shutdown defensemen in their prospect pool. Kangas still remains a project of a prospect, and will spend at least two more years in Finland playing for HPK. But if he can keep making strides like he did this season, and perhaps find more opportunities to take advantage of that "incredible shot," the guy who was one pick away from the "Mr. Irrelevant" draft position could prove to be a late-round gem down the line.