Aatos Koivu, who plays for TPS in Liiga and is the son of former Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, picked up his first professional hockey point on Tuesday.
The NHL doesn't begin until the first week of October. However, several European hockey leagues are already underway, including Liiga in Finland, where 18-year-old Aatos Koivu is skating.
The son of long-time Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu tallied his first professional point on Tuesday with an assist in a 3-2 TPS shootout win over Tappara.
Aatos has followed in his father's footsteps and became a Montreal prospect when the team selected him in the third round (70th overall) of the 2024 Draft.
Tuesday's contest was his fifth career game in Liiga. He dressed for four contests in 2023-24 but didn't get his name on the scoresheet.
He also split time with the two TPS junior teams, U18 (22 points) and TPS U20 (31 points) last year, to finish the campaign with 53 points in a combined 48 games.
Interestingly, Aatos is already on pace to score more points than his dad, who picked up just 10 points in 46 games during his first promotion to Liiga in 1992-93.
Even though Saku was a first-round pick (21st overall) in 1993, he did not make his North American debut until the 1995-96 season at age 21.
Aatos just turned 18 and has plenty of time to grow in Finland before jumping across the pond to play in Montreal. Until then, it will be fun to track his progress from afar.
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