Two more Finns sign NHL entry-level deals

Two more Finnish players who were taken in this year’s NHL Entry Draft – Emil Hemming and Jesse Pulkkinen – signed three-year entry-level contracts on Monday. Both are expected to return to play for their Liiga clubs for the 2024-25 season.

Hemming is an 18-year-old right winger from TPS Turku who was taken late in the first round, 29^th overall, by the Dallas Stars. A sniper, Hemming scored seven goals and added four assists in 40 Liiga games last season as a 17-year-old and played the rest of the season in Finland’s top U20 league, where he dominated.

Internationally, Hemming played in both the IIHF World Junior Championship and U18 Worlds for Finland last season. Later this week, he will attend a summer junior training camp in Vierumäki, where the Finns will play exhibition games against visiting Swiss and Czech junior teams, and is expected to be named to Finland’s World Junior Summer Showcase team later this month.

Pulkkinen is a 19-year-old defenseman from JYP Jyväskylä who was a second-round pick, 54^th overall, by the New York Islanders. A big (6-foot-6, 220 lbs), offensive defenseman, Pulkkinen had eight points and 24 penalty minutes in 29 Liiga games last season, and he was also dominant the remainder of the season in Finland’s top junior league.

At last year’s World Juniors in Gothenburg, Pulkkinen had three points in seven games as Finland finished fourth. As he will turn 20 on December 27, he is no longer eligible to play internationally at the U20 level.