With keeping in mind that the Philadelphia Flyers are looking to improve upon their team from last season (without having the cap space to do so), this writer has found a player that most have given up on or forgotten about. But change is coming: This player has begun to turn heads once again overseas. His name? Julius Nattinen.
Nattinen was drafted back in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft in the second round by the Anaheim Ducks. This came after playing his junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League for the Barrie Colts in the 2015-2016 season and then the Windsor Spitfires in the 2016-2017.
After his junior career was over, this centerman joined the Ducks’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the San Diego Gulls for the 2017-2018 season. During his time with the Gulls, Nattinen’s production was not on par with what he (or the team) would have liked: Julius only managed to score 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points while playing in 55 games that season.Â
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Over the off-season, Nattinen trained hard and came into the Ducks’ camp in the kind of shape he thought would allow him to make the jump to the NHL. Unfortunately for him, the Ducks’ front office thought otherwise and decided to ship him back to San Diego. This did not sit well with Julius; He did not want to play in the AHL yet again, so he decided to voice his displeasure to management on their decision. The two sides could not come to agreement and it ended badly, resulting in Anaheim placing Nattinen on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract.
Once his ties to the Anaheim Ducks were severed, Julius decided he should continue his hockey career elsewhere and returned to his native Finland. He chose to join Jyvaskyla or (JYP) of the Liiga (Finland’s top professional hockey league). Over the course of the last two seasons, Nattinen has been able to transform himself from an underachieving center to an elite goal-scoring winger! So much so that this now 23-year-old (who stands at 6’2 and 205 pounds) led the entire Liiga in goals scored last season with 33. Julius also achieved a total of 55 points (which was good enough for 3rd overall in the Liiga last season) and has shown that he can be defensively responsible as well posting a plus 19 on the season.
Nattinen’s success in the Liiga could largely be contributed to his rekindled devotion to never giving up on a play. Julius’s determination to utilize his size, strength and powerful skating ability while the puck is on his stick allowed Nattinen to get into the exact position he wanted to be in to let go one of his absolutely lethal wrist shots.
In the video provided (see above), you may have noticed Nattinen wearing a different color helmet than the other players. This golden helmet is worn in the Liiga by each team’s top scorer. It is meant to be an easier way for the league’s spectators to follow their team’s star player. In reality, it acts as huge bull’s-eye for the opposing teams. This bull’s-eye allows the other team to be more aware of that player while they are on the ice, which often results in double teams and the opposing team trying to put those golden domers through the dasher boards. With that being said, the fact that Nattinen had the “honor” of wearing the golden helmet for the majority of the season and was still able to achieve such point totals was a feat in itself.
Moving on from the Liiga, Nattinen has decided to take his newfound talents to Switzerland for the 2020-2021 season and signed with the Ambri-Piotta Hockey Club of the Swiss National League (Switzerland’s top professional hockey league). Only time will tell if Julius will be able to match or exceed his totals from last season, but one thing is for certain: After the past few years he had in the Liiga, there will be more and more NHL scouts checking their watches as they look to board a plane to Switzerland to watch Julius play in person. Hopefully one of those scouts belongs to the Philadelphia Flyers, seeing that the team’s power play unit was exasperating (to say the least) throughout the post season. Certainly the Flyers could use a player with Nattinen’s skill set to potentially add some much needed scoring depth to the roster A.S.A.P.
Since his time with the Anaheim Ducks, Julius Nattinen has transformed himself into the elite goal-scorer the Flyers need! Nattinen would be an affordable low-risk signing who would offer the Flyers a high reward- if his talents were to translate well to the NHL next season. For this reason, Chuck Fletcher (the Flyers’ General Manager) should look to sign Nattinen by way of a one-year, one-way contract for the league (minimal). That way, if Julius does not live up to the Flyers’ expectations they will not be stuck with him for an extended period of time, and if he does play well then Nattinen could look forward to a more lucrative contract offer from the Flyers, or another NHL club, the following season.
Great article. You’ve got me excited to see this guy in Orange and Black. He checks a lot of boxes.
Thanks Michael
Getting desperate
I think the Flyers will need to get desperate as you put it. They don’t have the cap to go out and add a big name free agent. They will have to get creative just to get rid of enough salary to resign their own RFA’s.