Finnish defenseman Petteri Nurmi, 22, has been transferred from HPK Hämeenlinna to fellow Liiga club IFK Helsinki, the latter club announced on Saturday. After being shuffled around a bit over the past week, it is expected that Nurmi should remain in the Finnish capital for the remainder of the current season.
“It's great to be here,” Nurmi said upon arrival in Helsinki. “This is a good opportunity for me to show myself and get a fresh start to the season.”
Nurmi is already in the lineup for HIFK’s home game on Saturday against KalPa Kuopio, slated to play the left side on the team’s second defensive pair with 18-year-old Minnesota Wild prospect Aron Kiviharju.
“‘Nurtsi’ is a very good puck-handler and he’s making strong progress in his career,” said HIFK sports director Janne Pesonen. “What’s important to us for all players is that they grow from within during the season. Petteri wants to take new steps in his career and I believe we can provide the right environment for that.”
Nurmi was born in Helsinki and came up through the ranks of the Blues club in suburban Espoo. After his rookie season as a pro in 2021-22 with HPK, where he recorded four points in 60 Liiga games, Nurmi was picked in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.
“He’s a very mobile defenseman who’s very good at retrieving pucks in the corners and moving pucks quickly in transition,” Montreal co-director of amateur scouting Martin Lapointe said of Nurmi at the time. “He needs to keep getting stronger, but his potential is high. He can start the rush fast and sees passing lanes well, too, so we’re happy that we drafted him.”
However, Nurmi has remained in Finland ever since, recording 45 points and 96 penalty minutes in 194 games as of the current international break. After putting up 10 points in 25 games for HPK this season, he was loaned to fellow Liiga club Vaasan Sport, with whom he played one game on Dec. 11.
With Nurmi apparently available, Russ Cohen of THN’s Montreal Canadiens’ site recently opined that, although the Habs had lost Nurmi’s exclusive signing rights by failing to sign him last summer, it might be a worthwhile move for the team to bring him to North America to see what he could do in the AHL for the Laval Rocket.
It now appears that won’t be happening this season, but Nurmi’s contract with HIFK is up at the end of this season.
HIFK is currently second place in the 16-team Liiga – tied in points with first-place SaiPa Lappeenranta but with one more game played.
Besides Nurmi and Kiviharju, the team also has Petteri Lindbohm on defense and Leo Komarov, Jori Lehterä, Iiro Pakarinen and Kristian Veselainen up front.