Vili Saarijärvi (born 15 May 1997) 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 h ...

defenceman 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 ...

for

SCL Tigers SC Langnau Tigers are a professional ice hockey team from Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL). The team plays its home games in the 6,000-seat Ilfis Stadium, which is currently one of the smallest arenas in the ...

of the Swiss

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL). He was drafted 73rd overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

During the 2014–15 season, Saarijärvi recorded six goals and 17 assists in 57 games for the Green Bay Gamblers, leading the Gamblers' defenceman in scoring, and finishing tied for 20th in scoring among all

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

defenceman. His first career USHL goal was a game-winning overtime goal on 4 October 2014, against the Chicago Steel. Following an outstanding season, Saarijärvi was named to the All-Rookie Second Team. On 30 June 2015, Saarijärvi was drafted 9th overall by the

Flint Firebirds The Flint Firebirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. The team plays home games at the Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center, and operates as a member of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team began play for the 20 ...

in the CHL Import Draft. On 12 August 2015, the Firebirds signed Saarijärvi to an

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

(OHL) contract for the 2015–16 season. Saarijärvi played his first career OHL game with the Firebirds on 24 September 2015, where he recorded his first career OHL point, an assist, in a game against the

Saginaw Spirit The Saginaw Spirit are a major junior ice hockey team based in Saginaw, Michigan. They are members of the West Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the Major Junior leagues of the Canadian Hockey League ...

. On 24 June 2016, Saarijärvi was traded to the

Mississauga Steelheads The Mississauga Steelheads are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Steelheads play their games at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga. History The OHL originated in Missi ...

in exchange for Everett Clark, a second-round pick in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection, a fifth-round pick in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection and a conditional second-round pick in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection. During the 2016–17 season, he recorded 11 goals and 20 assists in 34 games for the Steelheads. On 3 July 2015, the Detroit Red Wings signed Saarijärvi to a three-year, entry-level contract. During the 2017–18 season, in his first full professional season in North America, Saarijärvi split time between the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

Toledo Walleye The Toledo Walleye are a professional ice hockey team based in Toledo, Ohio. The Walleye are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL. The Walleye were founded in 1991 as the Toledo Storm and play their home games at ...

and the AHL's

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Leag ...

. He made his AHL debut for the Griffins on 28 October 2017, and recorded his first career AHL point, an assist. In 10 games with the Walleye, he had two goals and four assists. In 42 games with the Griffins, he had 11 assists. During the 2018–19 season, in his second full professional season in North America, Saarijärvi recorded two goals, 14 assists, and a team-leading plus-19 rating, in 70 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. He recorded his first career AHL goal on 20 October 2019 in a game against the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

. On 30 November 2019, Saarijärvi was traded 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 Mul ...

in exchange for

Eric Comrie Eric Comrie (born July 6, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Rochester Americans while under contract with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Jets in the ...

. Prior to being traded, he recorded one assist in 13 games with the Griffins. On 2 December 2019, he was assigned to the Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays i ...

. He finished the season with six assists in 25 games for the Roadrunners. On 15 May 2020, Saarijärvi signed with

Lukko Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Fi ...

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 ...

. On 28 February 2023, the Coyotes traded Saarijärvi's rights to the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

in a three-team trade.

International play

Saarijärvi 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

2015 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2015 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 17th IIHF World U18 Championship, and was hosted by Zug and Lucerne, Switzerland. The tournament began on 16 April 2015, with the gold medal game played on 26 April 2015. Top Division Officials The ...

, where he led all defenceman in scoring, recording three goals and six assists in seven games, and won a silver medal. He was selected as the tournament's best defenceman and was named to the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championship All-Star Team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saarijärvi, Vili 1997 births Living people Detroit Red Wings draft picks Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey defencemen Flint Firebirds players Grand Rapids Griffins players Green Bay Gamblers players Lukko players Mississauga Steelheads players Sportspeople from Rovaniemi SCL Tigers players Toledo Walleye players Tucson Roadrunners players