The Finnish duo of Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen were standouts last season with the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s where the Hurricanes’ ties to Finland are most visible– but they certainly go deeper than that within the organization.
Aside from the Aho/Teravainen duo, Erik Haula, acquired from Vegas in June, will factor into a top-nine role this season with Carolina and could add a spark to the forward group. Haula was born in Finland as well and made the move to North America for his draft year in 2008-09. Saku Maenalanen, just 25 years old, also split time between Carolina and Charlotte last season as well (but remains unsigned).
Of the last three NHL drafts from 2017-2019, only 61 of 651 players selected (9.4 per cent) were born in Finland. That being said, we’ve seen no shortage of skill coming out of Finland, with the likes of Aleksander Barkov, Miro Heiskanen, Patrik Laine, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and now Kaapo Kakko all cracking the top-three in the last number of entry-drafts.
When looking at Carolina’s track record, it shows a trend of many more Finnish players joining the Hurricanes organization than the average NHL team. In the last three drafts, seven of the Hurricanes’ 26 selections have been Finnish, working out to about 27 per cent. That’s up quite a ways from the NHL standard.
Drafted this past year by the Hurricanes were three skaters, all selected in the third or fourth round. Patrik Puistola, an 18-year-old winger was taken 73rd overall after tearing up Finland’s second-highest professional league, while Anttoni Honka, an undersized but offensively capable right-shooting defenseman joined him as a third-round selection. Tuukka Tieksola, a winger who spent his season playing in a Finnish junior league, was a fourth round pick of the Hurricanes. A year ago, the Hurricanes only had six selections but used one of their fourth-round picks on Lenni Killinen, a 6-foot-2 Finnish winger.
The Hurricanes haven’t had a shortage of Finnish players on their roster in the past, with the likes of Jussi Jokinen, Sami Kapanen and Tuomo Ruutu among others to show for as alumni. But recently, Carolina has found success in bringing in Finnish skaters and with their prospect cupboard filled with even more players out of Finland, there isn’t likely to be a shortage of Finnish Hurricanes any time soon.
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