Flames loan prospect to Finland

The Calgary Flames have loaned prospect Juuso Valimaki to Tampereen Ilves in Liiga, Finland's top ice hockey league. He missed the entire 2019-20 season after tearing his ACL during the summer of 2019.

The #Flames are assigning defenceman Juuso Valimaki to Tampereen Ilves in Finland's Liiga league. pic.twitter.com/wncwOt6xo2— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) September 29, 2020

Valimaki, 21, came over from Finland in 2015 after being drafted in the first round, 15th overall by the Tri-City Americans in the WHL. In 159 regular season games with Tri-City, he put up 138 points (40 G, 98 A), 92 penalty minutes, and was a +16. In 16 WHL playoff games, Valimaki had 18 points (4 G, 14 A), 12 penalty minutes, and was a +6.

He then went on to be drafted in the first round, 17th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2017 NHL entry draft. In 24 regular season games, he has 3 points (1 G, 2 A), 12 penalty minutes and is a -2. In 2 playoff games, Valimaki has 1 assist, 0 penalty minutes and is a +1.

Internationally, Valimaki has represented Finland on many occasions, most recently at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships where he captained them to a 6th place finish. In 5 games, he had 4 points (1 G, 3 A), 2 penalty minutes and was a +/-0. He also played at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, where he put up 2 goals, 6 penalty minutes and was a +1 in 6 games as Finland shockingly advanced to the relegation round. They battled Latvia in a best-of-3 series, with the loser being relegated. Finland won the series 2-0 by winning 2-1 in the first game, and 4-1 in the second game.

After not playing since April 2019, Valimaki will look to make the most out of his loan stint with Tampereen Ilves before coming back prior to the start of 2020-21 NHL training camps.

Source: Flames

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