Though it had been expected since he was sent back down to the minor leagues, Winnipeg Jets prospect Kristian Vesalainen has now officially been assigned to the KHL. Vesalainen’s rights were acquired by Jokerit recently, meaning he’ll be heading back to Finland to play this season and continue his development.
The 19-year old will now see his entry-level contract slide forward by one year, assuming that he doesn’t return to the Jets at the end of the season. He ended up playing five games for Winnipeg this season, scoring one point but showing that he’s not quite ready. In the AHL, where he spent eight games, he was a force scoring eight points and using his physicality and puck skills to create offense on nearly every shift. That’s the kind of production the Jets will hope he can muster in the KHL, where he is joining a solid organization in Jokerit. The team is off to a 20-5-3 start, and have plenty of former NHL talent in players like Sami Lepisto, Nicklas Jensen and Viktor Loov.
Even though he’ll be going back to Finland to play in arguably the second best league in the world, this isn’t a perfect situation for the Jets. They’ll have no control over Vesalainen’s development or ice time, and will have to hope that the organization gives him a strong opportunity to play. That’s not always a guarantee with players who are not committed long-term, something that Vesalainen surely isn’t. Next season you will almost certainly see him back in the Jets organization and trying to crack the NHL roster out of camp, something that seems very possible for the 24th pick from 2017.