Valtteri Puustinen (born 4 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 hock ...

winger for the

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre ...

of 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) as a prospect under contract to 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

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). He made his NHL debut in 2022.

Playing career

Puustinen played as a youth within the

HPK Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) is a professional ice hockey team in the Liiga, the top men's ice hockey league in Finland. Their home ice is the Ritari-areena in Hämeenlinna. HPK was established in 1929. The parent club of the team is HPK Edu ...

organization 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 leagu ...

. He was drafted 203rd overall by the

in the

2019 NHL Entry Draft The 2019 NHL Entry Draft was the 57th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 21–22, 2019 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The first three selections were Jack Hughes going to the New Jersey Devils, Kaapo Kakko being select ...

. Puustinen made his Liiga debut for HPK during the

2018–19 Liiga season The 2018–19 Liiga season was the 44th season of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Teams Regular season Top six advanced straight to the quarter-finals, while teams be ...

. He played 47 regular season games and scored 10 goals. In the 2020–21 season with HPK, Puustinen recorded 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points in 51 games. His 21 goals led all HPK skaters and were tied for eighth in the league. He was one of just four skaters in Liiga to record 20 or more goals and assists. On 6 May 2021, Puustinen was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a two-year, entry-level contract. After scoring 17 goals and assists each with the Penguins'

affiliate, the

, Puustinen was called up by the Penguins and played his first

(NHL) game on 11 March 2022 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 expan ...

. He scored his first NHL point that night, a secondary assist on

Jeff Carter Jeffrey J. Carter (born January 1, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Los Angeles Kings ...

's goal, as the Penguins won 5–2. On 20 June 2023, he was re-signed to a one-year, two-way contract by Pittsburgh.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1999 births Living people Finnish ice hockey forwards HPK players Ice hockey people from Kuopio Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players {{finland-icehockey-winger-stub