Devils' 2026 Second-Round Draft Profile: Samu Alalauri

Evaluating what Samu Alalauri brings to the table as a potential target with the 44th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

Jun 20, 2026

Thank you, as always, for reading the Devils’ Advocates Substack! If you enjoy the quasi-daily content, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends, family, and any Devils fan you know. It is completely free of charge and helps out quite a bit!

Consider checking out the Devils’ Advocates Podcast, which features weekly episodes chock-full of in-depth content and exciting guest appearances. They’ll be available on this Substack, but you can also listen on your favorite platforms at the following links:

Spotify | Apple Podcasts

With the 2026 NHL Entry Draft going down this month and the Devils in possession of five picks, I’ll be going through a ton of prospects over the next several weeks in order to prepare readers for appealing targets in every round. At the end, I’ll be doing a full mock draft (with reasoning) so that you’ll be able to decipher my preferred targets. Enjoy!

All 2026 NHL Entry Draft Profiles:

With the NHL Draft less than a week away, I’m going to be concentrating the bulk of my efforts into polishing up the remainder of the draft profiles I wanted to get out. Today’s profile marks the 17th of the season, and by the end of the week I’ll be aiming for ~30 completed profiles in order to get everyone acclimated to some potential fits for the Devils’ draft.

Next up on the list is Samu Alalauri, a big-bodied, mobile right-handed defenseman out of Finland. His game is predicated on defensive aptitude and efficiency, and though that typically connotates limited offensive upside, he does possess a handful of traits that make me believe he’ll be a more-than-capable two-way blueliner at the NHL level.

Let’s chat about why Alalauri would be not only a palatable, but an excellent get at 44th overall:

By the Numbers

Rankings: #48 by EliteProspects | #57 by Craig Button | #52 by Tony Ferrari | #49 by FloHockey | #41 by McKeen’s Hockey

Size: 6’2, 220 Pounds

Production: 6 Goals & 19 Assists (25 Total Points) in 40 U20 SM-sarja Games

Alalauri’s U20 production for a defenseman was quite strong, placing third among draft eligible blueliners in the league. As such, he possesses late first-round star probabilities and early second-round NHLer probabilities, according to HockeyStats. Things get all the more appealing when looking at his underlying metrics, too:

As you can see, there’s really not much not to like here. His biggest impact comes in the defensive zone, where he ranked in at least the 97th percentile in all tracked metrics, with extremely strong support in transition and from within the offensive zone. The underlying numbers paint him as a true all-zone, all-situations defenseman, and I have to agree fully given my viewings of him. He was arguably the best all-around defenseman in the U20 this season, perhaps better than consensus first-round selection Juho Piiparainen. According to Gabriel Foley, Alalauri had the second-highest relative expected goal share (xGF%) in all of the U20 SM-sarja, meaning that he was the second-best player in the league relative to his teammates. It’s an accomplishment that should not go unnoticed.

Evaluating Alalauri’s Tools

Skating

Despite being a very stocky 6’2 and 220 pounds, the bulk of what Alalauri is able to accomplish is by virtue of his smooth-skating abilities. In particular, while he does boast strong straight-line speed and excellent explosiveness for his size, his four-way mobility takes the cake as the most impressive part of his skating game. He effortlessly transitions from forward to backward, side to side, allowing him to be one of the best neutral zone defenders in the entire class. You’ll occasionally see him jump into the play by virtue of his mobility and recovery ability, too, being a capable pincher or third-man back on a rush opportunity.

I also appreciate how quickly Alalauri is able to stop and change direction. He uses this on both sides of the ice — defensively, this allows him to keep pace with direction changes against him, and offensively, it allows him to bait a defender before sending him flying while he opens up an opportunity for himself or his teammates:

Shooting

I think I’m a bit lower on Alalauri’s shot than most — the consensus seems to be that he is a better shooter than playmaker or facilitator, and I don’t find that to be the case. He does have accuracy and can fire a wrist shot through traffic, to be clear, but I think he’s more opportunistic than outright skilled in this regard. That’s a talent and asset, to be sure, but not something that should be touted as a game-changing trait, in my opinion.

Alalauri’s one-timer is pretty good, though I’m again probably lower on it than most. He was used on the flanks for much of this season on the power play, but I think he could use to add some power to his slap shot, even if it is fairly accurate and dangerous already.

Hockey Sense & Playmaking

Opposite of the above blurb, I’m likely higher on Alalauri’s playmaking chops and offensive IQ than the consensus. I think he does an excellent job of scanning the ice and finding high-danger opportunities. Sometimes, these are the simple plays. Sometimes, they’re cross-ice, threaded-through-traffic passes that defy expectations:

By virtue of his mobility, Alalauri attacks downhill many times while he’s in the offensive zone, opening up passing lanes that would be otherwise unavailable. He draws defenders to his location using his skating, head fakes, and simple lateral stick moves before capitalizing on the now-open ice for his teammates.

Share Devils' Advocates

Alalauri also has a penchant for making plays seem simpler than they are. Short-distance passes, for example, often stem from head fakes and lead-ups that draw defenders into him. He has an excellent ability to take defenders out of the play without them even realizing they’ve been pulled out of position.

Puck Skills

For a defenseman of his stature, I actually quite like Alalauri’s stickhandling chops. His bag of tricks isn’t deep, nor are his capabilities complex, but he has simple dekes down and uses those in conjunction with head fakes to draw in coverage to create space for his teammates.

Defensive Play

Defense, and more specifically efficient defense, is the name of the game for Alalauri. He’s extremely calculated in his movements against a rush opportunity, being fully comfortable in 1-on-1 or even 2-on-1 situations by virtue of his four-way mobility and defensive IQ. He seems to know where the play is going to develop before it comes to fruition, effortlessly gliding into the right position to take away a passing lane or force an attacker to the outside and nullifying the opportunity altogether.

Physicality

Despite his frame, I don’t think Alalauri is a particularly menacing defenseman in conventional terms. He’s physical when he needs to be, but what makes him special in this regard, to me, is his calculation in when he needs to activate physically. He’s patient, allowing the play to come to him rather than chasing a hit and taking himself out of the play. When he does connect on a hit, he’s effective. Alalauri’s stockiness and strength shows up along the boards, where he is impossible to knock out of relevance and generally wins his battles. In open ice, when the timing is right, you’ll see him connect while defending the rush, subsequently separating the attacker from the puck. However, it’s not a main part of his game, and he could potentially work on it even a bit more to become more physically imposing at the NHL level. That would add another element to his defensive game, furthering the idea that he’s going to be an effective defender in the show.

I’m a huge fan of Alalauri, and for good reason. In my head, he’s a borderline first-round talent who will only be available in this slot because I’m sure some scouts believe that his offensive upside is a bit limited. Perhaps it is — perhaps he lacks the dynamism to be a true difference-maker on both sides of the ice — but even if he doesn’t hit his offensive ceiling, he’ll still be an excellent defensive player who has the capabilities to get the puck out of the zone with confidence. As far as puck-moving goes, the most important part of the game is getting it out of the defensive zone and onto the stick of someone who can get it into the offensive zone, and that’s something that Alalauri excels in already. With the 44th overall pick, I’d be elated to end up with him.

He is committed to the University of Massachusetts for 2026-27, so we’ll be able to see him against significantly better competition next season.

NHL Timeline: 2028-29
NHL Stylistic Comparables: Hampus Lindholm, Mattias Ekholm

The two clips from the Hlinka Gretzky Cup were sourced from Steven Ellis on Twitter/X, here and here. The clips from the World Junior Championship were from the IIHF and the clips from the U20 SM-sarja were from my own viewings.

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?