International Hockey Roundtable
Ex-Wild prospect returns to Finland
© Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images - Ex-Wild prospect returns to FinlandSwedish defenseman Simon Johansson, 25, has signed a two-year contract with Ilves Tampere, the Finnish Liiga club announced on Tuesday.
Born in Stockholm, Johansson is a product of the famous Djurgården club, where he played from ages 14 to 21 and played in 80 SHL games, recording 12 points and 16 penalty minutes. He then played the 2021-22 season for Ilves, where he had 39 points in 68 Liiga games.
Johansson was a fifth-round draft pick in 2018 by the Minnesota Wild, and he went overseas to join that organization four years later. Over the past two seasons, he only played NHL pre-season games, and in 138 AHL games with the Iowa Wild, he had 35 points and 80 penalty minutes.
“As a 25-year-old defenseman, Simon Johansson is heading towards the best years of his career,” said Ilves sports director Timo Koskela. “Nowadays, it is very rare in Finland for a player to return to the club from which he left for North America with a multi-season contract after his NHL contract. Simon’s return to Ilves is great news for both our club and the League and says a lot about the player and his commitment.”
Johansson joins a young Ilves team that has been successful in recent seasons, finishing no worse than third over the past three Liiga regular seasons. However, the team has not reached the finals since 1998 and has not won a national title since 1984. It is a young team that includes NHL prospects Jakub Málek (New Jersey Devils), Kalle Väisänen (New York Rangers), Samu Bau (Utah HC), Ondřej Kos (St. Louis Blues) and Sebastian Soini (Minnesota).
Ilves is competing in this season’s Champions Hockey League but has not fared well through its first four games, earning only one overtime win and three regulation losses. Its first Liiga game of the season is on Wednesday at home against TPS from Turku.
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