Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen will remain in Finland to play one more season with HPK Hameenlinna of the Finnish Liiga this upcoming year. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff explains the circumstances of Kiiskinen’s situation…
“He had a good season in HPK and we expect him to have another strong season,” Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary said of Kiiskinen. “Then we’ll see him in North America next year.”
Next year, because Kiiskinen, 19, has one season remaining on his contract with HPK Hameenlinna of the SM-liiga, Finland’s top pro league. Under the terms of his deal, if he’s not playing for the Red Wings in the NHL, he must be returned on loan to finish out his commitment to his Finnish club.
It’s the same reason why Red Wings draftee Anton Johansson will be playing in Sweden in the upcoming season for Leksand IF of the SHL. That’s no assessment of their potential as a Detroit prospect. It’s simply the facts of how European contracts work.
The usual rule for European contracts is that players have to complete their under-20 seasons with their European rights-holders if they don’t make the NHL.
They can attend their NHL teams’ training camps, and play in exhibition games (as Michael Brandsegg-Nygard did last season) but then they have to complete their 18-year-old and 19-year-old seasons with their European teams.
Duff also noted Kiiskinen’s self-described best skill (scoring) and the area which he believes needs improvement (his skating):
Last season, Kiiskinen led HPK in scoring with 14-30-44 totals, despite losing 14 games to injury.
“Just got better,” is his explanation for the strong season.
He also believes that those numbers might be a bit misleading when it comes to exhibiting the strengths of his game.
“I think I’m still like a scorer and like a shoot-first player,” Kiiskinen said. “Maybe the stats don’t show that because I had a lot of assists and more than goals, but I like to still make plays and make a goal. I still love scoring and have loved that all my life.”
