Free agent forward Joona Luoto has signed a three-month try-out contract with NL club SC Bern, according to a team release. The deal contains a built-in option to extend through the end of the 2023-24.
Luoto, 25, spent last season in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization. While he did record a goal (his first in the NHL) in seven games with Columbus, he spent most of 2022-23 in the minors with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. There, he tied for fourth on the team in goals with 14 and added 11 assists for 25 points in 45 games.
That was Luoto’s second attempt to stick in North America. The Winnipeg Jets signed him as a free agent from Liiga club Tappara before the 2019-20 season, but he disappointed with no points in 16 NHL contests and just four assists in 18 AHL games with the Manitoba Moose. Things didn’t go much better for him in the second year of his entry-level deal, playing just 11 AHL games thanks to the COVID-shortened 2021 campaign, recording four points yet again.
The disappointing stint led to Luoto returning to Tappara for the 2021-22 campaign, where he appeared to figure things out by season’s end. His nine goals and 14 points in 27 regular-season games didn’t jump off the page, but he exploded to lead the team in postseason scoring (17 points in 14 games) and won the Jari Kurri Award for the best player in the Liiga playoffs en route to a championship with Tappara. He then landed a deal with Columbus last summer on the heels of that performance.
His production with Cleveland was arguably his most promising and consistent professional showing. However, now 25, it’s becoming clear there isn’t enough runway left for an NHL future for the 6-foot-3, 201-pound winger.
Luoto will now try and stick his landing in Europe once again, joining a Bern team looking to rebound after a handful of disappointing seasons. It’s a team chock full of recent NHLers such as Martin Frk, Julius Honka, Dominik Kahun, Corban Knight, Patrik Nemeth, and Colton Sceviour.