Sebastian Antero Aho (born 26 July 1997) 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 hock ...

player and

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

for the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

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). Aho formerly played 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 ...

in 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 leagu ...

. Aho made his professional debut with Oulun Kärpät during the 2013–14 season. Drafted 35th overall in the

2015 NHL Entry Draft The 2015 NHL Entry Draft was the 53rd NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 26–27, 2015, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The first three selections were Connor McDavid going to the Edmonton Oilers, Jack Eichel going to the Buffa ...

, he made his NHL debut during the 2016–17 season with the Hurricanes.

Playing career

Liiga

Aho made his

debut playing with

during the 2013–14 season.

Carolina Hurricanes

Aho was rated amongst the top 20 European forward skaters eligible for the

. In the draft, he was selected in the second round, 35th overall, by the

. On 13 June 2016, Aho signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Carolina. On 13 October 2016, he made his NHL debut—and recorded his first point, an assist—in the opening game of the 2016–17 season. On 12 November 2016, he scored his first goal, which was followed by a second goal in a 5–1 win over 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 (NHL) ...

. On 31 January 2017, Aho scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a game against the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

. Consequently, he became the youngest player in Hurricanes/ Whalers franchise history to score a hat-trick. After the Hurricanes failed to make the

2018 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs began on April 11, 2018, after the 2017–18 regular season and concluded on June 7, 2018, with the Washington Capitals winning their fir ...

, Aho represented

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

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 i ...

. During the 2018–19 season, Aho passed Ron Francis' franchise record for longest season-opening point streak by recording a point in the Hurricanes' first 12 games, as well as tied an NHL record for recording a point per game from the start of the season. His streak ended on 3 November in a 4–3 overtime loss to the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

. On 2 January, Aho was selected to participate in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game after leading the team in goals, assists and points through 38 games. On 13 January 2019, Aho recorded his second career hat-trick in a 6–3 win over 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 ...

. Aho led the Hurricanes in scoring (five goals, seven assists) during their first trip to the playoffs in 10 years in the 2018–19 season. On 1 July 2019, Aho signed an

offer sheet In North American professional sports, an offer sheet is a contract offered to a restricted free agent by a team other than the one for which he played during the prior season. Different leagues have different ways to handle offer sheets. NHL In t ...

with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, becoming the first player to sign an offer sheet since

Ryan O'Reilly Ryan O'Reilly (born February 7, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres. O'Reilly was dra ...

in 2013. The contract included a lucrative bonus structure, including $21.7 million within the first 12 months of the contract. On 7 July, the Hurricanes officially matched the offer sheet, re-signing Aho to a five-year, $42.27 million contract.

Personal life

Aho was born in the Satakunnan keskussairaala in

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

, but his legal birthplace is Rauma.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aho, Sebastian 1997 births Ässät players Carolina Hurricanes draft picks Carolina Hurricanes players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey centres Living people Oulun Kärpät players People from Rauma, Finland Sportspeople from Satakunta