2016 NHL Draft Profiles: What makes Jesse Puljujärvi a top-three pick?

Jesse Puljujärvi is 6'3, 205 pounds. But If Jesse Puljujärvi was American, he'd still be in high school.

The 17 year old native of Alvkarleby, Sweden pledged his allegiance to Finland in international play. But as the 2016 NHL Draft draws closer, Puljujärvi is primed to make a lottery winner very happy.

Jesse Puljujärvi - Right Wing - Karpat (Finnish Liiga)

2015-16 Stats - 50 GP - 13 G, 15 A, 22 PIMs

For many North Americans, Puljujärvi's introduction came at the 2016 World Junior Championship, where he posted five goals and twelve assists in just seven games for Finland en route to their fourth ever title.

Puljujärvi's best traits are largely unteachable; he has excellent patience both with and without the puck, and is able to find soft spots in defensive coverage. He has a killer passing instinct and a killer scoring instinct that has drawn favorable comparisons with Jamie Benn.

Puljujärvi was in contention for the top spot in the 2016 NHL Draft through his outstanding performance at the World Juniors, but afterwards his play slowed down. He finished just outside the top 50 in the SM-Liiga in scoring despite playing quality minutes.

And yet, that shouldn't deter NHL teams looking for a sizable threat on the wing, and lower point totals in a young player's draft eligible season are nothing to really be worried about; William Nylander finished 2013-14 with 27 points, and still went 8th overall to the Maple Leafs that year.

With all of Dylan Strome's height and more build, Puljujärvi may be able to make the jump straight into the NHL. Yet even if he doesn't, Jesse Puljujärvi will be a high caliber addition to any team's forward pool this summer.