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Penguins clear their throats to announce new defense signing

May 20, 2018, 10:34 AM ET [43 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
All eyes are on the Stanley Cup Playoffs and rightfully so. That doesn't mean all the other teams are closed for business. The Penguins slipped in a player signing




Riikola has been playing professionally since the age of 19 in Finland and is now 24 years old. Here is what his sample looks like



The last two years he's picked up his offensive game which is a good thing. The obvious issue will be translating that production into the world's best hockey league. Gabriel Desjardins did work a number of years ago on the point production European players have overseas and how it translates to the NHL (link



After taking Riikola's 24 points through the conversion it would be around 13 points in the NHL. As Josh Weissbock used to say about these conversions, they are probabilities not destinies.

The Penguins organizational depth at defense is down from prior years. This is a harmless signing and something worth trying. I don't spend time scouting the SM-liiga so this is going to have to be a wait and see thing for me. I go into it with no expectations.

Thanks for reading!
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