Tappara star Benjamin Rautiainen’s NHL contract signed last week does not necessarily mean that the league’s top scorer will leave for North America permanently next season.

According to information received by Urheilucast, there is a detail in the 20-year-old super prospect’s contract that could keep him with Tappara next season as well.

– It will either be NHL or Tappara, but nothing in between. According to Urheilucast’s information, the Tampa organization has already been informed about this, and there seems to be a sort of peace made regarding the matter, says podcast host Esko Seppänen.

In practice, this would mean that if Rautiainen does not succeed in securing his place directly in the Tampa Bay NHL roster, the next destination would not be the AHL farm league. Instead, the forward would return to Tappara for another year.

This arrangement would be significant for both the player and the Tampere club.

Rautiainen emerged as a superstar of the entire league during the recently concluded season. In the championship-winning season for Tappara, the young player scored an impressive 25+52=77 points in 59 regular-season games, winning the league’s scoring title.

Tampa Bay rewarded his breakout season with a three-year NHL entry-level contract, but the final decision regarding next season’s playing location seems to be waiting until the fall.

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