Who is Emil Pieniniemi? The 21-Year-Old Defender The Panthers Acquired From The Penguins

On Saturday, the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins completed a trade, as the Panthers sent forward Oliver Okuliar to the Penguins in exchange for defenseman Emil Pieniniemi.

Okuliar is a 26-year-old Slovakian winger who spent the 2025-26 season playing in the SHL with Skelleftea AIK. Okuliar posted 15 goals and 29 points in 46 games. The year prior, Okuliar played in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers, scoring a respectable 19 goals and 41 points in 69 games. 

Okuliar was headed into the off-season as an unrestricted free agent, and it was believed the Panthers were uninterested in re-signing him. Okuliar has signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Penguins. 

While the Panthers move on from the former undrafted forward, they've acquired a 21-year-old defender.

Pieniniemi was a 2023 third-round pick of the Penguins who made his North American professional debut this season. Plenty of internal controversy surrounded Pieniniemi, who, after his OHL campaign ended last season, refused to report to the Wheeling Nailers, the Penguins’ ECHL affiliate.

Eventually, the Finnish defender would join Wheeling this year, where he scored six goals and 11 points in 26 games. In the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pieniniemi scored one goal and totaled three points in nine games.

Pieniniemi is a two-way defender with a history of offensive upside. In 2024-25, Pieniniemi scored 10 goals and 60 points in 60 games with the Kingston Frontenacs in the OHL. Additionally, he notched two goals and three points in six games en route to silver medal with Team Finland at the world juniors. 

At just 21 years of age, this move is good business for GM Bill Zito and the Panthers front office. They move on from a player who didn’t have a future with the organization in favor of a younger player who could one day work his way onto the NHL roster. 

See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.