When Jesse Kiiskinen got the call that Nashville had traded him to the Detroit Red Wings, he was in the middle of the forest, completing mandatory military service in Finland.

“… I was sitting on my bed and just chilling, and then I got the call,” Kiiskinen said. “(I was) a little bit shocked, like ‘what happened?’”

What happened was the Red Wings traded 2023 second round pick Andrew Gibson to the Predators in exchange for Kiiskinen — Nashville’s third round pick in 2023 — and a second round pick. They then packaged that second rounder to trade defenseman Jake Walman to San Jose in a cap dump. Now, Kiiskinen is a Detroit prospect, and an intriguing one at that.

Because of Kiiskinen’s mandatory military service, the Red Wings haven’t gotten a chance to see their newly acquired prospect in action since the trade until the ongoing World Junior Summer Showcase, where Kiiskinen is captaining Team Finland. What they see should impress them. Though he hasn’t been perfect and is scoreless in two games played, Kiiskinen’s skating and sticktoitiveness have stood out on a young Finnish roster. So has his leadership, a commodity in need for Finland thus far.

“He has good character,” Finland coach Lauri Mikkola told The Hockey News. “He is a good person and just a little bit leader in the locker room there. He has lots of giving for the team.”

A team-first forward that plays to win? In the Red Wings organization? Yeah, that’s not very surprising. In fact, Detroit had interest in adding Kiiskinen to its prospect pool for a while, including in his 2023 draft year.

“I had a lot of meetings and calls with the Finnish scout (Antonin Routa) from Detroit,” Kiiskinen explained, “and (when) I was (at the) combine, I had the interview with those guys and I was thinking they were interested.” Eventually, the Red Wings were interested enough to acquire him. It just took some time and the right circumstance to do so.

For a third-round pick with an outside shot of ever making the NHL, Kiiskinen has a lot of tangible and intangible skills to lean on. He’s a smooth skater who uses that to advance play in transition, efforts that nearly got him a goal on a couple of odd-man rushes through his first two games of the Summer Showcase. He also spent this summer honing his skating and power, as well as his shot. That is, he did so when he wasn’t rucking across the forests of Finland with his military cohort, which included more than 20 other hockey players meeting their service requirement.

“They are practicing there all the time but still they gotta be at home,” Mikkola explained of his players’ military service. “Of course it’s a little bit different summer than usual, but every Finnish man is doing that army (service).”

This army service is why Kiiskinen missed Red Wings development camp in early July. His number of days off are limited, and he had to make a decision whether to use them for development camp or for the Summer Showcase. In the end, he chose the Showcase.

A stone’s throw away from Detroit in Plymouth, the Red Wings get to see him right in their backyard anyway. Multiple members of the front office came to watch his game Monday against USA Blue, the better team of the two American squads in the tournament which featured 2024 draft picks Max Plante and John Whipple, as well as 2023 pick Trey Augustine in net. Kiiskinen found his ice time limited by what felt like an endless stream of players to the penalty box, but he showed off his skating and pace in limited ice time despite the game’s lack of rhythm.

This check-in comes at an important time for Kiiskinen. His upcoming season — his second full season in the Liiga — could prove to be an important one. Whereas a seven-game call-up in his draft year gave him some men’s league familiarity, his rookie season last year was his first true season against men. His 10 points in 38 games tied for third among U19 skaters in total and fourth in points per game. Now, his task is to crank up the heat next season, particularly in his ability to win battles within the game. That’s an area he identified as a weakness early when he transitioned from junior play to the men’s league, and it’s one he has continually strived to get better.

“I think there’s more strategy in the game,” Kiiskinen described Liiga play. “The systems are in the biggest roles. Like when you watch those teams or like one team (Tappara) that won the Liiga three years in a row, their system is pretty good. They read, played pretty (good) hockey. So it’s different with the system.”

In other words, there aren’t as many mistakes to take advantage of. Everything is earned. So, Kiiskinen has to battle and earn his ice. To do that, he’s learned to lean on his strengths and manipulate his power and strength to gain an edge.

All this is good preparation for a pro career, but Kiiskinen is nonetheless focused on the task at hand with Team Finland. That’s reflected in the way he prioritized being at Summer Showcase instead of development camp. It’s also beaming from the “C” on his jersey. He’s going to be an important part of Finland’s team this winter, and that’s an encouraging sign for a long-shot NHL prospect.

“He can do lots of different things,” Mikkola said. “He can be a penalty killer, he can (play the) power play, and we’re gonna use his many skills.”

As for Kiiskinen’s military service, that shouldn’t last much longer. He’s nearly done with his mandatory program, he explained, so he won’t have to wear so many hats — or rather, helmets — in the future. He’s also excited for what a future with the Red Wings organization can hold. He got to visit the city last summer when he was at his first Summer Showcase, and he said he’ll check out some new spots if he and his teammates have the opportunity for a return trip.

“I know from Detroit, it’s a great hockey town and it’s a great organization,” Kiiskinen said.

An organization he might play for? There’s plenty of intrigue if he can continue developing.