SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito announced today that the club has re-signed forward Aleksi Heponiemi to a one-year, two-way contract.
“Aleksi is a skilled, energetic forward,” said Zito. “We look forward to his continued development within our Panthers system.”
Heponiemi, 23, skated in six games with Florida in 2021-22, notching one assist. He has appeared in 15 total NHL games with the Panthers from 2020-21 to 2021-22, logging three points (1-2-3).
The 5-foot-10, 155-pound native of Tampere, Finland led Florida’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, with 30 assists (9-30-39) over 56 games in 2021-22. Over 111 career AHL games with Charlotte, the Syracuse Crunch (2020-21) and the Springfield Thunderbirds (2019-20), Heponiemi has amassed 59 points (12-47-59). In seven Calder Cup postseason games with Charlotte in 2021-22, he recorded four points (1-3-4).
Prior to the start of the 2020-21 NHL season, Heponiemi skated in 16 games with MODO Hockey (HockeyAllsvenskan), registering 14 points (6-8-14). He also appeared in 50 games with Karpat (Liiga) in 2018-19, posting 46 points (16-30-46).
Prior to his professional career, Heponiemi played two seasons (2016-17 to 2017-18) with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL), recording 204 points (56-148-204) over 129 games. In his rookie season with the Broncos, Heponiemi led all WHL rookies in assists (58) and points (86), winning the Jim Piggott Trophy as the WHL’s rookie of the year.
On the international stage, Heponiemi won a Gold Medal with Finland at the 2019 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship registering a tournament-leading nine points (3-6-9).
Heponiemi was originally selected by Florida in the second round (40th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.
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