From a statistical perspective, Teuvo Teravainen’s NHL debut with Chicago wasn’t remarkable.
The 19-year-old forward logged 11:39 minutes and was 7-0 on the draw, but recorded no points, shots on goal, hits, or blocked shots in the Blackhawks’ 4-2 victory over Dallas.
He impressed his teammates though, who were more than happy to add to the hype already surrounding the 2012 first-round pick.
“I thought he was awesome,” Duncan Keith told CSN Chicago. “There were a couple times there in the (defensive) zone where we made couple quick plays to one another and were able to get it out of the zone. He has so much patience and skill. He’s going to be an unbelievable player in this league.”
Keith went on to compare Teravainen to a young Patrick Kane. Kris Versteeg sees shades of Kane in Teravainen too when it comes to his puck control and skill.
Of course, they’re not saying that Teravainen is at that level yet, but clearly the Blackhawks feel the ceiling is very high for him.
Teravainen joined the team after leading Finland to a gold medal in the 2014 World Junior Championship and recording 44 points in 49 games with Jokerit of the SM-liiga in 2013-14.