Helsinki Jokerit of Finland’s second-tier league, Mestis, has officially announced the signing of NHL veteran Valtteri Filppula to a one-year contract. Sami Hoffrén and Marko Lempinen of Helsingen Sanomat reported last week that the sides were discussing a potential reunion.
Filppula, entering his age-40 season, had spent the last three seasons with Switzerland’s Genève-Servette HC after his NHL career drew to a close in 2021. While he was always one of the league’s more defensively responsible centers in his prime, his offensive game came back alive in Geneva, particularly in 2022-23. That year, he finished second on the team in scoring with 17 goals, 34 assists and 51 points in 46 games before leading the National League in playoff assists with 12 in 18 games, helping Genève-Servette to its first championship since being promoted from Nationalliga B in 2002. All in all, he totaled 131 points in 145 regular-season games for the Swiss club.
While Filppula’s numbers trailed off in 2023-24, limited to 33 points in 51 games, he’s still capable of shouldering professional minutes in Europe, especially against significantly easier competition in Mestis. He brings a lot of nostalgia to Jokerit, with whom he had 21 goals, 42 assists, and 63 points in 120 games in the top-level Liiga, where he played as a teenager and briefly during the 2012-13 NHL lockout. After being selected by the Red Wings in the third round of the 2002 draft, Filppula departed Jokerit for Detroit in 2005.
Across two stints in Hockeytown, Filppula amassed 112 goals, 175 assists and 287 points in 591 games while averaging over 16 minutes per night. He was a key depth piece on the Wings’ 2008 championship team, earning some outside Selke Trophy consideration that year. Filppula also logged action with the Flyers, Islanders, and Lightning to bring the total number of NHL games he played to 1,056 regular-season contests across 16 seasons.
In the release, neither Filppula nor the team hinted at any intentions of retirement next summer. But if he ends his playing days, he’ll remain with Jokerit off the ice. As part of today’s news, he’s become a part-owner and will assume a front-office role when he does opt to hang up his skates.