HPK strengthened its defense on Monday with an interesting name arriving from North America. The Hämeenlinna club announced that it has signed a two-year contract with defender Valtteri Piirosen.

The 24-year-old Piirosen returns home after spending five seasons in North America. The upcoming season will also be his first in the Liiga.

The 194-centimeter and nearly hundred-kilogram defender played mostly in the NCAA college league last season, where he recorded 1+6=7 points in 29 games. Additionally, he played three games in the ECHL and made one appearance in the AHL.

HPK strongly believes that the tall defender still has a lot of untapped potential.

– Valtteri is a large and very mobile all-around defender who brings physicality, solid overall play, and quality penalty killing to our defense.

– We saw a lot of potential in him and believe that he can take the next step in his career in our quality coaching and daily routine, commented Jukka Voutilainen, responsible for player scouting at HPK, in the club’s announcement.

Although he does not yet have Liiga experience, Piirosen has a strong background in Finnish junior hockey. Before heading to North America, he spent his junior career in the organizations of Jokipojat and Lukko.

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