Meet The Eagles, Boston College Men’s Hockey: Jesper Mattila

Name: Jesper Mattila

Number: 8

Position: Defenseman

Class Year: Senior

Drafted: N/A

Background: Jesper Mattila has been a constant presence for Boston College since his freshman year, where he has logged 108 games over his first three seasons, including all 39 in his junior year. While not a dynamic offensive talent, Mattila has the ability to at least chip in on the score sheet, putting up 6 goals and 25 assists to this point of his career. Jesper mostly stays out of the penalty box, having cut his minor infractions in half each of the last two seasons — from 12 as a freshman, to 6 as a sophomore, to just three in his junior campaign. For a team that didn’t score much and that wasn’t dominant on the penalty kill, that’s an important skill for a player who is on the ice as much as Jesper.

2019-20 Outlook: In a defense that looks to be full of question marks, Mattila figures to be one of the locks for opening night and beyond. Head coach Jerry York has shown trust in Jesper from his first game as a freshman and that doesn’t figure to stop any time soon. Jesper has proven to be capable of playing big minutes in the past three years, and will likely have to do so as a senior as well. He’s hovered right around 10 points per season for his entire time at BC, and another year like that combined with strong defensive play would cap off a solid career for Jesper.

Fun Fact: Jesper (and his brother Julius) hail from Tampere, Finland. Tampere is also the hometown of current NHL star Aleksander Barkov, who plays with former Eagles Mike Matheson and Ian McCoshen on the Florida Panthers.