Penguins forward prospect Valtteri Puustinen signed a one-year contract extension with the club HPK in Finland, it was announced on Wednesday.
Puustinen, a 21-year-old winger, was the Penguins' seventh-round pick in 2019. They retain his exclusive rights until June 2021, so Puustinen can still play another year in Finland before he would be expected to sign and move to North America.
"The way the club plays is really good for me and I think I can still take it to the next step here in my own career," Puustinen said in an HPK club release about the extension.
Puustinen made huge strides last season, more than tripling his career point totals in his second season in the top Finnish men's league. He finished No. 2 on HPK in scoring with 17 goals and 23 assists in 54 games before the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The highlight of his season was this incredible between-the-legs goal:
Puustinen, 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds, goes by the nickname “Kuopion Phil Kessel” in Finland, due to his hard shot and some physical similarities. He was teammates with fellow Finnish Penguins prospects Niclas Almari and Emil Larmi in HPK's 2018-19 championship season.
“He’s a good player, he’s like a young Kessel, he looks like him," Larmi told me this season of Puustinen. "He’s a really good player. I don’t know if you saw that one goal, between the legs? Yeah, it was okay. (laughs) He’s a good guy.”
HPK is set to begin exhibition play in two weeks.
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