NY Islanders: This offensive stat will get you excited about Aatu Räty's potential

On Friday night, NY Islanders prospect Aatu Räty scored twice for Finland in a World Junior Championships pre-tournament tune-up for against the United States showing off his talented skill-set and offensive potential.

Speaking of potential ...

Ever hear of PNHLe? That's ok, I hadn't either.

The offensive potential of NY Islanders prospect Aatu Räty

According to creator Mason Black on NHLRankKing.com, PNHLe is an offensive stat that is used to project a player’s point potential at the NHL level and is meant to standardize a variety of leagues so that prospects can be compared from one league to another. PNHLe attempts to equalize all leagues, ages, and positions so that the offensive potential of a prospect can easily be compared with others, while also projecting future NHL point potential in the prime years of a player.

A look at the current rankings and you'll find Top-10 picks in recent drafts and prospects ranked in the Top 50 or 25 in the NHL. You'll also find Räty ranked 11th.

Per Black, PNHLe is best seen as a trend and any single season can be an outlier. The more data you have, the more accurate it becomes. It was built for fantasy hockey & not to evaluate how good a prospect is, or their NHL probability (although there is a strong correlation).

2021-22 was a wild ride for Raty, who went from dropping out of the first round and standing out at training camp to being traded from Karpat to Jukurit in Liiga, the top Finnish hockey league after just six games. But after the trade, under head coach and former Islander Olli Jokinen, he found his confidence and his game, scoring 13 goals and collecting 27 assists in 40 games.

After his Liiga season ended, the 2021 second round pick came over to North America and played in the Bridgeport Islanders final two regular season games. He would gone to score his first goal, an OT winner, in a win against the Providence Bruins in the first round of the Calder Trophy Playoffs.

Whether or not you believe in (or understand PNHLe), Raty's stock is trending up as he gets ready for his first full North American season. There's excitement to see him represent Finland at the World Junior Championships this week and then play his first full AHL season in Bridgeport. His performance this season will go a long way in predicting just how much of his potential can be fulfilled.