Henri Jokiharju (born 17 June 1999) is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Jokiharju was selected 29th overall by the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Jokiharju was brought up first in the

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its h ...

youth program, playing for their under-16 and under-18 teams in 2013–14 and 2014–15, respectively, before joining the under-18 and under-20 teams of

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at ''Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

in 2015–16. In his draft eligible year, 2016–17, Jokiharju went to play for the

Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon, playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), one of three leagues making up the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Prior to the 2021-22 season, the Winterhawks split thei ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL). He posted nine goals and 39 assists in 71 games for a total of 48 points. In the playoffs, the Winterhawks defeated the

Prince George Cougars The Prince George Cougars are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team currently members of the B.C. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team is based in Prince George, British Columbia, and plays its home ...

in six games before dropping out in five to the

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place. The R ...

, with Jokiharju adding three assists in 11 games during the playoff run. Jokiharju was named to the Western Conference Second-Team All-Star during the 2017–18 season. On 12 June 2018, Jokiharju signed a three-year contract with the

. After participating at the Blackhawks training camp, Jokiharju made his NHL debut on 4 October in the Blackhawks' season opener against the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

. In his second game, Jokiharju recorded his first NHL point with an assist on captain

Jonathan Toews Jonathan Bryan Toews ( ; born April 29, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Captain Serious", Toews was selected by the Blackhawks with the t ...

' goal in a 5–4 overtime win over the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

. On 9 July 2019, Jokiharju was traded by the Blackhawks to the

in exchange for fellow first-rounder,

Alexander Nylander Alexander Maximiliam Michael Junior Nylander Altelius (born 2 March 1998) is a Canadian-born Swedish professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under cont ...

. On 1 November 2019, Jokiharju scored his first career goal against the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

. On 2 September 2021, Jokiharju was re-signed a three-year, $7.5 million contract with the Sabres.

Personal life

Both his father and brother also play ice hockey. His father Juha played professionally, mainly in the Finnish

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

, while his older brother Juho played

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an e ...

from 2015 to 2019.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* 1999 births Living people Buffalo Sabres players Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Finnish ice hockey defencemen National Hockey League first-round draft picks Portland Winterhawks players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Oulu {{Finland-icehockey-defenceman-stub