Otto Salin Represents Kings at 2024 World Junior Championships

Happy Boxing Day, Insiders!

In the hockey world, Boxing Day means the start of the World Junior Championships, as the NHL takes its final off day before concluding the 2023 portion of its schedule.

The World Juniors, in recent seasons, have seen so many LA Kings prospects find success – both individually and from a team perspective – on the international stage. As the Kings have become more competitive though, those types of prospects have graduated to the NHL and AHL, with fewer draft picks in the system behind them. As such, with the Kings now pushing for success at the NHL level, the Kings have just one representative this season at the under-20 showcase.

Insert defenseman Otto Salin.

Salin will represent Team Finland over the next two weeks in Sweden, the host of the 2024 Tournament. Salin and Finland began their tournament on Tuesday with a 5-2 defeat against Team Canada, one of the pre-tournament favorites for a gold medal. Finland will play four games in total during group play, with the Finns drawn into Group A alongside Canada, Germany, Latvia and Sweden. They’ll face those teams in alphabetical order, running through their finale against Sweden on New Year’s Eve. Finland’s schedule is listed below –

12/26 – Finland vs. Canada (2-5 L)
12/27 – Finland vs. Germany (5:30 AM, Pacific, NHL Network)
12/29 – Finland vs. Latvia (5:30 AM, Pacific, NHL Network)
12/31 – Finland vs. Sweden (5:30 AM, Pacific, NHL Network)

The Top 4 teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals and from there, it will be a single-elimination tournament the rest of the way home. Finland is likely to advance and is a contender to play for a medal when the time comes. The quarterfinals take place on January 2, followed by the semifinals on January 4 and the Gold and Bronze Medal games on January 5.

Salin, an alternate captain for Team Finland, logged more than 21 minutes during his tournament opener against Canada, second-most amongst defensemen on his squad. He’s expected to play a large role throughout the tournament for Team Finland, now participating in his second tournament overall. Look for a lot of number 3 when watching Finland play.

Salin was a fifth-round selection of the Kings back in 2022, with the organization drawn to his skating ability when watching him play as a draft-eligible prospect. He’s not imposing but he’s not under-sized either. Like many younger players who possess high-level skating ability, Salin’s work needs to come on the other side of the puck, but that is not uncommon amongst players when they’re still in their teenage years.

Mark Yannetti on Salin, after the 2022 Draft
Salin’s skating was the first thing that stood out. His skating is excellent. His skating allows him to get into situations and get out of them [both good and bad]. He has the ability to skate the puck up the ice and push the pace, that’s a great thing. That’s an ingredient you can’t add later down the line and you can always pull a guy back. The fact that [Salin] can skate himself in and out of trouble at this stage of his career is a good thing……and he has the ability to play more of controlled game.

Salin attended his first development camp with the Kings this summer, the first time he’d participated in a Kings-affiliated camp.

Sean O’Donnell spoke during that week about Salin showing some really good things offensively, but also noted some instances where he was out of position or outmuscled by a bigger player defensively. For a player who comes from Finland and is adapting to both a new style of play and a smaller ice surface, there are expected growing pains. As he continues to develop, there’s certainly a path of working through those things and allowing what is elite in his game to surface.

Salin’s focus during that event came on simply showcasing his overall game and trying to work on his overall game. A development camp is, first and foremost, about improvement.

“Both the offensive side and the defensive side of my game, that’s what I’ve tried to bring out there for the other players and coaches, everybody who’s watching,” he said last summer.

Salin is ahead of many at his age already. He plays in the top men’s league in Finland – SM-Liiga – playing a regular role with HFK Helsinki on the blueline, a club that currently ranks third across in the standings. Only two defensemen have logged more than Salin’s 29 games played on the season, with the young defenseman tallying six assists in total.

Excited to see him play amongst his peers here over the next couple of weeks.

Kings are back at it tomorrow morning, Insiders, as they gear up for San Jose tomorrow evening. Morning skate at 10:30, puck drop at 7 PM at home, as we get right back into it with a 3-in-4 coming out of the holiday break.