Emma Nuutinen made a spectacular return to Finland's national team this week. After six years away from Team Finland, could she be back for the Olympics? And could she eye the PWHL next?
Finland brought back a veteran of their program with an Olympic bronze medal and three World Championship medals, including Finland's only silver, to her name.
At 28, Emma Nuutinen is well within her prime, but it's been six years since she last represented Finland on the world stage. It's why many were surprised to see Nuutinen back in the mix for Finland at the Lidl Hockey Games this week in Sweden.
For Finland, it was a learning experience not only about their competition heading toward the 2026 Olympics, but also about themselves and the players available who could help Finland win their fifth Olympic medal in women's hockey.
"An interesting tournament that offered a lot of joy and a lot of learning, as well as valuable information about individuals," said Finland's head coach Tero Lehterä.
Nuutinen not only retuned to Team Finland this week in Sweden, but she led the four nation tournament with three goals in three games scoring twice in a win over Czechia, and another in Finland's win against Sweden.
Nuutinen became a staple of Finland's national team while playing NCAA hockey for the University of North Dakota and Mercyhurst University. Then she disappeared from their radar. The most significant point in that was a devastating knee injury that saw Nuutinen miss more than a year of hockey.
After graduating from Mercyhurst University in 2020, scoring 21 goals and 40 points in 34 games as a senior, Nuutinen returned to Finland to play for Kiekko-Espoo. Only six games into her first season on home soil, scoring at a pace of two points per game, Nuutinen was hurt, and did not return to the ice for the remainder of the 2020-2021 season, and the entirety of the 2021-22 season.
With the 2022-23 season looming, Nuutinen decided to return to North America to play with the PHF's Buffalo Beauts. There she put together a promising first North American pro season and earned a contract extension for 2023-24.
“I think last season we saw glimpses of Emma’s brilliance,” said Buffalo general manager Nate Oliver of Nuutinen. “She was on the mend from a knee injury and didn’t really have the same timetable as everyone else to be at peak performance last season. The best is yet to come. Physically, Emma is one of the most powerful players I have ever worked with."
For Nuutinen however, that season with the Beauts never came as the PHF was acquired by the Mark Walter Group for the purposes of creating the PWHL. Nuutinen put her name in the hat for the inaugural PWHL draft, but went unselected and instead of testing a training camp, Nuutinen returned to Finland. Her PWHL hopes, and Finnish national team hopes, appeared over...until now.
Nuutinen Makes Her Return, Could A PWHL Future Follow?
In her first season back in Finland, Nuutinen scored 28 goals and 63 points in 31 games. They were totals good for third overall in the league. She upped that production in the playoffs leading the Naiseten Liiga in postseason scoring, and carried it over to bigger things in year two.
In her second season in the newly rebranded Auroraliiga, Nuutinen led the league in assists and points, and led the league in playoff goals and points helping Kiekko-Espoo win a title. Nuutinen was looking more confident.
This year, she was off to a tremendous start after not representing Finland at the summer's Women's Euro Hockey Tour. Prior to the Lidl Hockey Games in Sweden, Nuutinen was scoring at a higher rate than she had since her injury racking up 20 goals and 45 points in only 17 games.
Finland may not have planned for Nuutinen to return to the senior national team this year. The team was without current NCAA players Julia Schalin, Sofianna Sundelin, Oona Havana and her younger sister Sofia Nuutinen who is in her third season at Mercyhurst and represented Finland at August's Women's Euro Hockey Tour stop.
After Emma Nuutinen's performance for Finland this month, it would not be surprising to see the Finnish national team give her another audition at December's four nation tournament, which will take place on home soil.
Should Nuutinen continue on this trajectory, the 5-foot-10 power forward could find her way back to the Olympic Games in February.
After declaring for the inaugural 2023 PWHL Draft, a strong Olympic tournament could also spark interest from PWHL teams. According to the PWHL's eligibility rules, Nuutinen is currently a PWHL free agent who could be signed upon completion of her season in Finland.
This week at the Lidl Hockey Games, Sweden's stop on the Women's Hockey Tour, Finnish forward Emma Nuutinen put herself on an upward trajectory. Whether she can maintain that trajectory to the Olympic Games, or perhaps even a PWHL future, is yet to be seen. One thing remains certain, Emma Nuutinen's game is back, and she's a player to watch on the international stage.