Before the season, Joakim Kemell‘s stock was soaring.
From being named the rookie of the year in Liiga as a draft-eligible for the first time since Kaapo Kakko, to dominating at the Under-20 Worlds held in August and adding team-topping 12 points in 7 games, the expectations for Kemell’s sophomore season with JYP were sky-high.
Not least because the team had also improved as a whole – at least on paper. They’d hired a new veteran head coach and made big investments to the roster, most notably having signed Sami Niku on defence. There was also more talent up-front compared to the previous year.
Those investments didn’t end up paying off. JYP missed the playoffs, finishing 13th out of the 15 teams with just more wins compared to the previous season.
As far as individual players go, arguably n
