Juuso Riikola (born 9 November 1993) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 ...

defenseman 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 ...

currently playing with

IK Oskarshamn IK Oskarshamn is an ice hockey club from Oskarshamn in Sweden. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The 2019–20 season will be the team's first s ...

of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). His brother, Simo-Pekka also played professionally.

Playing career

Riikola made his

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 ...

debut playing with KalPa as a 19-year-old during the 2012–13 SM-liiga season. He dressed for 20 games while posting 6 assists from the blueline. In his sixth season with KalPa in 2017–18, and while serving as an alternate captain, Riikola scored a career high 8 goals for 24 points in 59 games. On 17 May 2018, as an undrafted free agent, Riikola signed a one-year, entry-level deal with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

of the NHL for a reported $925,000. He made his NHL debut on 11 October 2018 against the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expa ...

PPG Paints Arena PPG Paints Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Pittsburgh, that serves as the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). It previously was the home of the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2 ...

. Riikola recorded his first career NHL point, an assist, on 28 November against the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

. He scored his first NHL goal on 29 December 2018 against 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 30 May 2019, the Penguins re-signed Riikola to a one-year, one-way contract extension worth $850,000. On 16 October 2019, against the

, Riikola played as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

due to injuries to several Penguins forwards. On 5 September 2020, the Penguins signed Riikola to a two-year, $2.3 million extension. After four seasons within the Penguins organization and as a pending free agent, Riikola opted to return to Europe in securing a one-year contract with Swedish club, IK Oskarshamn of the SHL, on 25 May 2022.

International play

Riikola played for the Finland national team at the

2018 IIHF World Championship The 2018 IIHF World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament hosted by the Danish cities of Copenhagen and Herning, held from 4–20 May 2018. The IIHF announced the winning bid on 23 May 2014 in Minsk, Belarus. South Korea made ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1993 births Living people Finnish ice hockey defencemen KalPa players People from Joensuu Pittsburgh Penguins players Undrafted National Hockey League players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players Sportspeople from North Karelia {{Finland-icehockey-defenceman-stub