Aleksi Heponiemi Leaves Florida Panthers, Signs in Switzerland

Aleksi Heponiemi will play in Europe this season as he has left the Florida Panthers to sign a one-year deal in Switzerland.

Heponiemi, 24, spent most of the past four seasons playing for Florida’s various AHL teams including the Charlotte Checkers.

 

Although Heponiemi played in 10 NHL games with the Panthers this past season, he played in 62 for the Checkers.

A second-round pick by the Panthers in 2017, Heponiemi remains a part of the organization as the team made him a qualifying offer.

He will play this season with EHC Biel.

Heponiemi had a strong training camp in 2022 and, had the Panthers not had salary cap problems, he may have started the season with Florida.

He was recalled when Sasha Barkov was out with pneumonia and ended up scoring a goal with three points in his 10 games.

The Panthers currently have 13 forwards signed to one-way deals so it would have been an uphill climb for Heponiemi to start this season in the NHL.

“He is a player you can put into any hole on your top-12 and you know exactly what to expect from him,” coach Paul Maurice said in December. “He is an incredibly bright player. I know he’s not the biggest guy out there, but if he fights hard enough — and he’s so smart — he’s going to make things happen.

”Sometimes when guys get called up, they play it safe. He is smart enough to play it safe, but he makes plays and I like that. He has a confidence and a fight in him … there’s just something there.”

Florida Panthers restricted free agent forward Aleksi Heponimei has signed a one-year contract to play for EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss National League. Heponiemi appeared in ten games (1G/2A) with the Cats and produced 43 points in 62 games with the AHL Charlotte Checkers last season.

Philipp Kurashev and the Chicago Blackhawks went to arbitration yesterday as the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a new contract. According to reports, the 23-year-old Kurashev filed a request for a one-year contract worth $2.65 million. Chicago’s offer would pay him $1.4 million per season for the next two years. As this was a player elected hearing, the team will choose the term, either one or two years. The arbiter will make a decision on the new contract within 48 hours of the hearing, with the walkaway number being $4,538,958.

There is a hearing scheduled today between the Toronto Maple Leafs and restricted free agent goaltender Ilya Samsonov. The Maple Leafs are reportedly asking for a $2.4-million salary to be awarded, while the 26-year-old Samsonov is looking to get paid $4.9 million. Samsonov went 27-10-5 in 42 games and posted a career-high .919 save percentage. Seems the low-balling Leafs are way off here. Whatever the arbitrator’s decision is, the contract can only be fore one year deal because Samsonov is 26-years-old and only one year away from unrestricted free agency.

Speaking of the Leafs, the club added former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher and former Florida Panthers defenseman Mike Van Ryn as assistants to head coach Sheldon Keefe.