The AHL’s Chicago Wolves brought two players in from Europe today, Hurricanes prospects Tuukka Tieksola and Ville Koivunen, according to a team announcement. Tieksola, 21, has already played 40 games for the Wolves this season, scoring 15 points. He was loaned back to Karpat in Liiga in February to help with their playoff push, but now after their elimination from Liiga’s playoffs, he’s back in North America. The 2019 fourth-rounder had five points in 11 games on his loan.
Koivunen, 19, is now put in a position to make his North American professional debut. The 2021 second-round pick has spent most of this season with Karpat and has scored a highly impressive 12 goals and 28 points in 52 games. By allowing him to get some games under his belt in Chicago, the Hurricanes organization is giving Koivunen a head start on getting the positive qualities of his game to translate to North American ice surfaces. While the Wolves have struggled immensely in their post-Calder Cup Championship season, adding two promising Finns to their lineup could spark a more energetic finish to their campaign.
- The San Jose Sharks have reassigned defenseman Derrick Pouliot to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. The 29-year-old Pouliot has been in the Sharks’ lineup mix since early March, and has played in a total of eight games for the team. He played a steady diet of minutes for coach David Quinn, and finishes with two points on his score sheet. With the Barracuda hoping to make one final push to conclude what has so far been a disappointing season, getting Pouliot (who has 21 points in 28 AHL games this year) will certainly give them a boost.
- Dylan St. Cyr, a 23-year-old former NCAA goaltender, has signed an ATO agreement with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, per a team announcement. The signing comes off the heels of a solid final collegiate season for St. Cyr, who posted a .915 save percentage for the Michigan State Spartans. St. Cyr is the son of Olympic silver medalist and Tampa Bay Lightning exhibition goaltender Manon Rheaume, and he will get a chance to play some professional hockey just as she did.