Who do you guys think would be the best chess pieces to have around Juolevi from the 2017 draft? I think Makar, Vilardi, and Mittelstadt would support his playstyle very well.
Makar is a right hand shot who could pair with Juolevi. His roving ability would go nice with Juolevi's calculated decisiveness. Both defensemen are good puckmovers, but Makar is more of a driver of offense, whereas Juolevi is a stalwart at defense, meaning they theoretically fit together quite well. In comparison, Heiskanen would probably play on a different pairing, as he also plays on the left side.
Vilardi is a dangerous 2way center who uses his size to play a possession game. His ability to play on the left wall and cycle back to the defensemen, or power to the net, keeps the other team guessing, which could go great with Juolevi's puck support and sniping ability.
Mittelstadt could be deadly on the powerplay with Juolevi (and Makar), boasting good speed and creativity with the puck. In addition, his elite transition game would go well with Juolevi's puckmoving ability. However, his defense raises a lot of questions, and much of his points come on the powerplay, meaning he might not accentuate Juolevi's main strength--affecting all phases of the game, whether on the powerplay, even strength, or on the penalty kill.
I think it's important for us to build around some of the young players we already have, and there's no better cornerstone than last year's first round pick.