Carolina Hurricanes‘ 2nd round pick in the 2016 draft (#43 overall) Finnish-born 2nd year left wing Janne Kuokkanen(59) was on the opening night roster as a rookie but reassigned after 4 NHL games with no points.
He would go on to score 11 goals and 29 assists with a +17 rating in 60 AHL games for affiliate Charlotte Checkers.
The 6’1″ 193 lbs. forward got off to a hot start with the farm club in his sophomore season, already grabbing a career tying 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in 27 games to earn an early season recall.
Skating three games logging decent minutes, he still has yet to affect the scoresheet, and was once again sent to the minors.
He spent most of his younger career playing junior hockey for Karpat, was called up for a single Liiga appearance, where he notched two goals and also loaned down to Mestis to play one game for Hokki (1 goal, 1 assist).
Next he came over for a campaign with London Knights and would be a point-per-game player grabbing 26 goals and 36 assists in 60 OHL games.
The 20-year old is signed to a three-year entry level deal but because of his age was allowed to play his first season on a slide.
He’ll definitely need to start connecting but seems like he’s on the cusp of fulfilling his potential.