EDMONTON — In Teemu Hartikainen’s own estimation, his game needed some work, which is why he couldn’t grumble about being left up for grabs until the sixth round of the 2008 NHL entry draft.

But after the Edmonton Oilers plucked the Finnish winger from the dwindling pool with the 163rd pick, Hartikainen’s game took a turn — for the better.

“Something happened,” he said. “When the Oilers drafted me I wasn’t that good, then I started to really really practice a lot. Of course I practised a lot before, but something just happened and the skill started to come.

“I wasn’t good with the puck, I wasn’t a good skater, then the next year I went to the elite league and everything just seemed to blow up. I think if I had played like that when I was one year younger, I would have been a higher draft choice.”

The turnaround began when Hartikainen was bumped up to Kalpa Kuopio’s senior team. He scored 17 goals and registered six assists in 51 games that season. Then in 2009-10, he put up 33 points, made another trip to the world championship with Finland, registering six points in six games, after which he decided it was time to try his hand at the North American game.

He didn’t speak the language, especially missed ruisleipa, the dark rye bread that is a staple in the Finnish diet, and he required 30-plus games to adjust to the American Hockey League. But he did it and he did it with enough haste that he earned himself a call up from the Oklahoma City Barons when the Oilers suffered another spat of injuries.

Hartikainen not only made his NHL debut on March 17, he became the first Finnish player born in the 1990s to make it to the big show.

“There are players coming. Guys who are two, three, four years younger than me,” he said. “But I hope I can be the first to take a spot in the NHL.”

There’s no wondering about his quick study habits, given that he picked up his English skills watching cartoons and reading subtitles during movies.

“I read a lot too. I read the Ozzy Osbourne book (I am Ozzy). I watched movies. There are a lot of words that kept coming many times, so you put it together and think, ah, this word means this,” said the six-foot-one, 215-pound 20-year-old who has turned heads with his play in his first two NHL games.

Hartikainen, who hails from Kuopio, Finland, also the home of Olli Jokinen (Calgary Flames) and Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia Flyers), has proven to be a gritty forward willing to go to the net.

Were it not for a pad save by Brian Elliott in the overtime session of Saturday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the rookie would have had his first NHL goal to go along with the assist he picked up in his debut against the Phoenix Coyotes.

“I love the grit he plays with. He’s fearless,” said Oilers head coach Tom Renney. “He’s got a hard, heavy shot. He knows the net is the end point. None of that is lost on his effort coming back and understanding the defensive part of the job.

“He just needs more exposure to the NHL.”

Renney’s first exposure to Hartikainen was at the team’s rookie camp last fall. He said now that he wouldn’t have pegged him a sixth rounder.

As for Hartikainen, he’s OK with stigma of being a late pick. He has been measuring his game against the play of higher picks, all of which has proven to him that he has what it takes — even if 162 players were chosen before him.

“Actually, I don’t mind it. It just a number,” he said, “But no one else expects anything of you.”

jireland@edmontonjournal.com

Twitter.com/jirelandEJ