A year ago, center Sakari Manninen was coming off an impressive season in the KHL plus a strong showing at the World Championship, helping him earn a one-year, one-way deal with Vegas with the hopes that he could push for some playing time with the Golden Knights this season. However, that didn’t happen and as a result, he’s heading back overseas as Geneve-Servette of the Swiss NLA announced that they’ve signed Manninen to a one-year deal.
The 31-year-old got a fairly long look with Vegas in the preseason, getting into four games before being one of their final cuts. The expectation was that he’d be back up once injuries arose but others got that opportunity instead. Manninen had a fairly successful season with the Silver Knights, picking up 40 points in 53 games to finish third on Henderson in scoring but somewhat surprisingly, he wasn’t among their list of ‘Black Ace’ recalls once the AHL campaign came to an end.
While Manninen could have waited for NHL free agency in July to see if another team might be interested in giving him an opportunity in North America, he’s instead opting to give the top division in Switzerland a try having already played in the top leagues in Finland, Sweden, and Russia. At his age and with him not getting into a game with Vegas this season, it seems unlikely that Manninen will find himself back on the NHL radar in the future.