Sakari Manninen (born 10 February 1992) 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 hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

currently playing with the

Henderson Silver Knights The Henderson Silver Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in Henderson, Nevada, that began play in the 2020–21 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The team plays its home games at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. The tea ...

in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) while under contract with 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 expan ...

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).

Playing career

Manninen made his

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

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 ...

during the

2013–14 Liiga season The 2013–14 Liiga season is the 39th season of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by Kärpät who defeated Tappara in the finals. This was the first sea ...

. After the 2018–19 season, placing second on

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 ...

in scoring with 20 goals and 48 points in 62 games, Manninen was traded by Jokerit to fellow KHL club,

Salavat Yulaev Ufa Hockey Club Salavat Yulaev (russian: Хоккейный клуб «Салават Юлаев», Hokkejnyj klub «Salavat Julajev»; ba, «Салауат Юлаев» хоккей клубы, «Salawat Yulayev» xokkey klubı), commonly referred ...

, in exchange for financial considerations and the rights to

Miro Heiskanen Miro Heiskanen (born 18 July 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ranked in the top ten eligible European skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ...

and

Henrik Borgström Kurt Henrik Mikael Borgström (born 6 August 1997) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing with the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the Washington Capitals in the National ...

on 17 May 2019. In March 2022, while in his third season with the club, Manninen left Salavat Yulaev Ufa during playoffs due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. On 13 July 2022, Manninen as an undrafted free agent, opted to move to North America and was signed to his first ever NHL contract after agreeing to a one-year, $750,000 contract with the

for the season.

International play

2019 IIHF World Championship The 2019 IIHF World Championship was hosted from 10 to 26 May 2019 by Slovakia. It was the second time that Slovakia has hosted the event as an independent country, as was the case in 2011. The host cities were Bratislava and Košice, as announce ...

Manninen was the point leader of the Finnish national team that claimed the world championship.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* 1992 births Living people Finnish ice hockey forwards Henderson Silver Knights players Hokki players Jokerit players KalPa players Örebro HK players Oulun Kärpät players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Salavat Yulaev Ufa players Sportspeople from Oulu {{Finland-icehockey-centre-stub