Finnish defenseman Niclas Almari was the Pittsburgh Penguins fifth-round choice in 2016 and had three stints with their AHL farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but has played for Lukko Rauma in Finland’s Liiga since early 2022.
After two unspectacular seasons, the now-26-year-old has been on fire to start the 2024-25 campaign, recording 13 points in the first 17 games of the season, which ties him for third in scoring among d-men. His hot start has led to speculation that he could soon be chosen to play for Finland's national team for the first time.
“I don’t know where (the points) are coming from, but it’s nice that they’re coming and I’m getting rewarded that way,” he said in a recent interview with Finnish hockey website Jatkoaika.fi.
Lukko just spit a weekend series with chief rival Ässät Pori and Almari was held pointless, but that was the first time all season he’s been blanked in back-to-back games. His 13 points have already almost matched his total from all of last season when it took him 58 games to record 14 points. His career high is 21 points in 2022-23.
“It’s been a bit of an exceptional season for myself, so I can’t complain,” he said. “I would say that I’ve improved my defensive game as well. We have good chemistry with (defense partner Jakob) Stenqvist. The roles are so clear that we each know what the other is doing, so it’s easy to play at both ends.”
Almari’s team also seems to have improved this season. Last year, Lukko finished eighth in Liiga’s regular season before being bounced in the play-in round. Through 17 games this season, the team sits fifth but is only a few points out of second, and has the league’s third-best goal difference at plus-15.
“We have a lot of skilled players and a fast style of play,” he explained. “We can certainly get a lot done offensively, but we should still score more goals because that’s ultimately what decides games.”
Almari has never represented Finland at a major international event and has never played for the senior national team. However, his name has come up when discussing Finland’s roster for the upcoming Karjala Cup, which will be played Nov 7 to 10 in Helsinki.
“It’s something that I try not to think about too much if I can help it,” he reasoned. “But I haven’t heard anything, so I can’t say. It would be great if the invitation came, but if it doesn’t come, I’ll just continue working as before.”