Ilves has made a splash: eight new signings!

Ilves announced eight new player signings on Tuesday. The team’s roster includes goalkeeper Christoffer Rifalk, defenders Leo Lööf and Tony Sund, as well as forwards Aleks Haatanen, Topias Hynninen, Jan-Mikael Järvinen, Benjamin Korhonen, and Jaakko Lantta.

The Swedish goalkeeper Rifalk’s contract is for 1+1 years, including both a club option and a player option for overseas. Sund’s contract is for one year. The contracts for Lööf, Haatanen, Hynninen, Järvinen, Korhonen, and Lantta cover the next two seasons.

Rifalk, 29, has long represented Rögle BK in the SHL, where he played 19 regular season games last season with a save percentage of 91.1. The season ended with SHL silver. Swedish defender Lööf, 24, last represented Ilves during the 2021-23 seasons and is returning to the club after three AHL seasons. Sund, 30, played the last three seasons with HIFK. He has also participated in two World Championships during his career.

Haatanen, 25, represented Jukureita for the last two seasons, where he recorded 6+9=15 points in 34 games last season. Similarly, Hynninen, 20, who has been with Jukureita since the 2022-23 season, scored 8+20=28 points in 57 games during the last Liiga season.

Järvinen, 38, is a product of Ilves. He played three Liiga games for the club in the 2006-07 season. For the previous four seasons, he represented Ässät, where he recorded 11+27=38 points in 60 games last season. Järvinen has won two Finnish championships with Tappara and played in the World Championships a year ago.

Korhonen, 24, has represented KalPa throughout his Liiga career, where he scored 6+19=25 points in 46 games last season. Lantta, 30, scored 4+9=13 points in 50 games with KalPa. Both won the Finnish championship with KalPa a year ago.