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Joona Väisänen Elite Prospects ↗

Position: Defense DOB: 2004-07-29 Country: Finland
2024 NHL Draft Round 6, Pick #175  ·  Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Penguins
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NCAA Division I

NCAA D3 / D2

Career Trajectory
Dashed = raw PPG  ·  ■ Solid blue = age-adjusted NCAAe-PPG  ·  ■ Green = actual college PPG
Junior Seasons
Season Team League GP G A Pts PPG NCAAe-PPG Age-Adj D3e-PPG Age-Adj
2021-22 — SM-Liiga-Jr 4 0 0 0 0.000 — — — —
2022-23 — SM-Liiga-Jr 44 4 24 28 0.636 0.3445 0.3602 0.9452 0.9882
2023-24 Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL 53 9 31 40 0.755 0.4639 0.4466 2.2235 2.1405
■ Blue = NCAAe (D1 anchor)   ■ Green = D3e (D3 anchor)   COVID-flagged seasons highlighted in yellow
College Seasons (Historical)
Season School Div Conference Year GP G A Pts PPG
2025-26 Western Michigan D1 NCHC — 7 0 6 6 0.857
2024-25 Michigan D1 BigTen — 42 4 22 26 0.619
2024-25 Western Michigan D1 NCHC — 42 4 22 26 0.619
Pre-College Projection vs. Actual Freshman Year
Projected PPG
0.39
before college
→
Actual FR PPG
0.62
2024-25 · Michigan
+59.1% vs. projection

College Pathway Likelihood (based on 40 comparables)

88%
NCAA D1
5%
NCAA D2/D3
2%
Age-Out / Club
5%
Pro / Other

NCAAe Rankings

#1638
Defenseman overall
#303
Defenseman born in 2004

D1 Comparables

Niklas Nevalainen
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.55 PPG
→ St. Cloud State (0.23 D1 FR PPG)
0.32 Average D
NCAAe PPG
Ryan Murray
WHL · 2012-13 · 0.74 PPG
→ Hamline (0.28 D1 FR PPG)
0.35 Average D
NCAAe PPG
Connor Murphy
OHL · 2012-13 · 0.55 PPG
→ Cornell (0.20 D1 FR PPG)
0.30 Average D
NCAAe PPG
Ryan Lowney
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.65 PPG
→ Ferris State (0.35 D1 FR PPG)
0.39 Strong D
NCAAe PPG
Victor Newell
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.52 PPG
→ Harvard (0.67 D1 FR PPG)
0.30 Elite D
NCAAe PPG

D2/3 Comparables

Nolan Redler
UMass Boston · 2015-16
1.125 Elite
actual D2/3 PPG
Ryan Ellis
SUNY Oswego · 2003-04
1.704 Elite
actual D2/3 PPG
Brett Gravelle
St. Thomas · 2015-16
0.923 Strong
actual D2/3 PPG

How to read this: NCAAe and D3e factors convert a player's junior PPG into expected NCAA scoring at the D1 or D3 level. Harder conferences → lower projected PPG for the same player. A strong junior player (e.g. USHL 0.90 PPG) will project much higher in NESCAC than Big Ten because the D3 scoring environment is lower-difficulty.

Strength factor: conferences above 1.0 are harder than average; below 1.0 are easier. The formula is: Base NCAAe PPG ÷ Conference Strength = Projected PPG.