Teuvo Teravainen
#86 / Winger
Height: 5’11” | Weight: 178 | Born: September 11, 1994
Birthplace: Helsinki, FIN | Acquired: Trade, June of 2016 (from Chicago)
Assets: Has outstanding offensive instincts and the versatility to play any forward position. Skates well and also has great hands and playmaking acumen. Is also a two-way performer and special teams stud.
Flaws: Needs to add significantly more bulk and become much stronger in order to thrive as a top-six forward at the National Hockey League level. Also needs to settle into one position (and team role).
Career Potential: Talented, versatile playmaking forward with upside.
(via TSN)
Why You Should Know Who He Is: Teuvo Teravainen (or “Turbo”, as the Canes call him) is a huge part of Carolina’s offense, tallying 76 points this season (0.93 PPG). He ranked second on the team in points, third in goals with 21, and first in assists with 55, and this was really a career year for Teravainen. He reached new career highs in both points and assists, and he came just two goals shy of meeting the career high that he set last season. He posted a whopping +30 rating over his 82 games, and while I know that stat can be silly sometimes, +30 is impressive and is tied for sixth-best in the league.
In addition to powering the Canes’ five-on-five offense, Teravainen plays a big role on Carolina’s top power play unit. 16 of his 55 assists this season came on the man advantage, and his eight power play goals were second only to Justin Williams’ nine. Take a look at this power play one-timer off a sweet feed from Sebastian Aho:
Teravainen, while part of the Canes’ young guns, also has some of the most playoff experience on the team. He was part of Chicago’s 2015 Stanley Cup run, in which he had four goals and 10 points in 18 games. He has 25 total playoff games under his belt, and that will come in handy on a team that collectively has little postseason experience. However, while he played a supporting role in the Blackhawks’ postseason run, he will need to step up this year as more of a key contributor.
How the Caps Can Stop Him: Teravainen is smart, but he isn’t a big guy and his play lacks some physicality. If the Capitals play the matchup game well and go with a big line like the top trio that includes Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson against him and the Canes’ second line, that should help to stifle him. The Caps will have to try and shut Teravainen down early and keep him from getting any momentum going, because he’ll be hard to stop once he’s on a roll. He also has the ability to control the puck for extended periods of time to make excellent plays, so the more the Caps can keep the puck away from him and the less time he spends in the Capitals’ zone the better. Washington seemed to figure him out in their home-and-home games in the last week of March, holding Teravainen to zero points and only three shots, so hopefully that continues into Round One.
One last fun fact about “Turbo”: he is, apparently, the messiest member of the Carolina Hurricanes. I just couldn’t leave out this gem of a video that I came across: