Kristian Vesalainen (born 1 June 1999) 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 ...

forward

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

of the Finnish

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 lea ...

. Vesalainen was drafted by the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

in the first round, 24th overall, in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Vesalainen originally played as a youth in his native Finland, appearing up to the Junior A level with

before opting to continue his development in Sweden with Frölunda HC on 27 August 2015. Vesalainen made his professional debut at the senior level with Frölunda in the Swedish Hockey League during the 2015–16 season. After an initial loan period to return to Finland during the 2016–17 season with HPK of the Liiga, Vesalainen made his move permanent in agreeing to a one-year deal with HPK on 28 April 2017. In his first year of eligibility, Vesalainen was selected in the first round, 24th overall, by the

at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft on 23 June 2017. In the 2017–18 season, despite his age Vesalainen impressively secured a top line role with HPK. With the club out of playoff contention and while leading the HPK in scoring with 19 goals and 39 points, Vesalainen was loaned for the remainder of the season to league leaders

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish for "Oulu Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times, ...

on 21 February 2018. Kärpät would eventually win the Liiga championship, with Vesalainen scoring 8 points in 18 playoff games. On 26 August 2018, Vesalainen signed a three-year, $4.476 million entry-level contract with the Jets, which included an out clause that would permit him to play in Europe during the 2018–19 season if he did not make the team's roster during the training camp. Vesalainen made his NHL debut on 4 October 2018 in a 5–1 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 ...

. He played 8:12 minutes of ice time and earned one assist. On 22 November, the Jets assigned Vesalainen to

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 ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL). On 21 October 2020, Vesalainen returned to HPK on loan from the Winnipeg Jets, until the commencement of the delayed North American 2020–21 season. In the following season, Vesalainen scored his first NHL goal against the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

on 23 October 2021. He appeared in a career best 53 regular season games with the Jets, totalling just 3 points, before he was re-assigned to close out the season with the Manitoba Moose in the AHL. As an impending restricted free agent with the Jets, Vesalainen chose to return to Europe by signing a one-year contract with Swedish club, Malmö Redhawks of the SHL, on 23 May 2022. He opted to return to his home country in November that same year.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vesalainen, Kristian 1999 births Living people Finnish ice hockey left wingers Frölunda HC players HPK players Jokerit players Manitoba Moose players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Oulun Kärpät players Winnipeg Jets draft picks Winnipeg Jets players Ice hockey people from Helsinki