Stanley Cup champion struck on the trade market – grabbed a Finnish defenseman

Florida Panthers added more Finnish flavor on Saturday by making a player trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL. The Stanley Cup champion acquired 21-year-old defense prospect Emil Pieniniemi. In return, Pittsburgh receives the rights to Slovak forward Oliver Okuliar.

Pittsburgh drafted Pieniniemi in the third round of the 2023 NHL draft. The young player spent most of the past season in the ECHL, where he recorded respectable stats for a defenseman with 7+13=20 points in 41 games. Additionally, he played 11 AHL games with stats of 1+3.

This season was Pieniniemi’s second in North America. In the previous season, the Finn scored impressive stats of 10+50=60 in 60 games in the OHL junior league.

Heading the other way, Okuliar is a familiar name to Liiga followers as well. The Slovak winger played for SaiPa during the 2021-22 season.

In the past season, the 26-year-old forward was one of the most effective players for SHL team Skellefteå. He finished with 15+14=29 points in 46 regular season games and continued his strong performance in the playoffs, where he scored 6+7=13 points in 15 games.

Okuliar currently does not have a valid NHL contract.