Kristian Vesalainen

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FinlandFinland  Kristian Vesalainen Ice hockey player
Date of birth June 1, 1999
place of birth Helsinki , Finland
size 191 cm
Weight 94 kg
position Left wing
Shot hand Left
Draft
KHL Junior Draft 2016 , 1st round, 19th position
SKA Saint Petersburg
NHL Entry Draft 2017 , 1st round, 24th position
Winnipeg Jets
Career stations
until 2015 HIFK Helsinki
2015-2017 Frölunda HC
2016-2018 HPK
2018 Kärpät Oulu
2018-2019 Jokerit Helsinki
since 2018 Winnipeg Jets
Manitoba Moose

Kristian Vesalainen (* 1. June 1999 in Helsinki ) is a Finnish ice hockey player who since August 2018 with the Winnipeg Jets in the National Hockey League is under contract and in parallel for their farm team, the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League is used . The left winger was selected in the NHL Entry Draft 2017 in 24th position by the Jets and previously celebrated the Swedish championship with Frölunda HC (2016) and the Finnish championship with Kärpät Oulu (2018). In addition, he won the gold medal with the Finnish U18 national team at the 2018 U18 World Cup .

Career

Kristian Vesalainen started his career in the youth department of HIFK Helsinki in his hometown, for which he played until the 2014/15 season. He then moved to Gothenburg for Frölunda HC , where he was initially used in the U20 in the J20 SuperElit , Sweden's top junior division. During the season, however, the winger also made his professional debut, played 24 games in the Svenska Hockeyligan (SHL) and celebrated the Swedish championship with the team at the end of the season . In addition, he was considered a little later in the KHL Junior Draft 2016 in 19th place by SKA Saint Petersburg .

In the 2016/17 season he won the Champions Hockey League with Frölunda, while Vesalainen also played nine games on loan with Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) in the Liiga , the highest professional league in his Finnish homeland. As a result, he was also selected in the NHL Entry Draft 2017 in 24th position by the Winnipeg Jets and then returned to Finland to be a permanent member of the HPK squad. In February 2018 it was awarded to Kärpät Oulu within the league , before winning the Finnish championship with the team a little later . Overall, he convinced in the regular season 2017/18 with 44 scorer points from 49 games.

As a result, the Winnipeg Jets provided him with an entry-level contract in August 2018 , with which he finally began the 2018/19 season and thus made his debut in the National Hockey League (NHL). After five games, however, the attacker was handed over to the Jets' farm team in the American Hockey League (AHL), the Manitoba Moose , before returning to his hometown Helsinki a little later by being awarded to the Jokerit . With these he took part in the game operations of the Continental Hockey League (KHL) and was honored there in December 2018 as Rookie of the Month. The Finn spent the end of the season back in the Moose squad in the AHL.

International

Vesalainen gained his first international experience as part of the World U-17 Hockey Challenge 2014 in November , before winning the bronze medal at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival 2015 . He then took part in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament 2015 and the World U-17 Hockey Challenge 2015 with the Finnish offspring , before winning the gold medal at the U18 World Cup in 2016 with the U18 national team . He was also part of the Finnish team at the U18 World Cup the following year and dominated the tournament as top scorer (6) and best scorer (13), so that he was recognized as the most valuable player and best striker and was elected to the All-Star team. In the final, however, they were defeated by the United States 2: 4, thus missed the title defense and received the silver medal. The winger made his debut for the U20 national team in his home country as part of the U20 World Cup in 2017 , where he missed the medal ranks with the team as in the following year .

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Status: end of the 2019/20 season

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt +/- SM Sp T V Pt +/- SM
2014/15 HIFK Helsinki U20 A-Jun.-SM-liiga 17th 1 1 2 -3 0 1 0 0 0 -1 0
2015/16 Frölunda HC U20 J20 SuperElit 37 15th 19th 34 +14 0 1 0 1 1 +1 0
2015/16 Frölunda HC SHL 19th 1 1 2 +3 0 5 0 0 0 +1 2
2016/17 Frölunda HC U20 J20 SuperElit 10 4th 0 4th –7 14th 5 2 1 3 -2 0
2016/17 Frölunda HC SHL 26th 1 5 6th -1 2 1 0 0 0 ± 0 0
2016/17 HPK Liiga 9 1 0 1 -1 0 - - - - - -
2017/18 HPK Liiga 44 19th 20th 39 ± 0 6th - - - - - -
2018/19 Jokerit Helsinki KHL 31 6th 11 17th +3 0 6th 1 0 1 ± 0 4th
2018/19 Manitoba mosses AHL 22nd 4th 9 13 -1 10 - - - - - -
2018/19 Winnipeg Jets NHL 5 0 1 1 ± 0 0 - - - - - -
2019/20 Manitoba mosses AHL 60 12 18th 30th -16 10 - - - - - -
J20 SuperElit overall 47 19th 19th 38 +7 14th 6th 2 2 4th -1 0
SHL total 45 2 6th 8th +2 2 6th 0 0 0 +1 2
Liiga overall 58 23 21st 44 ± 0 6th 18th 4th 4th 8th -2 14th
AHL total 82 16 27 43 -17 20th - - - - - -
NHL overall 5 0 1 1 ± 0 0 - - - - - -

International

Represented Finland at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt +/- SM
2014 Finland WHC 4th Place 6th 3 2 5 4th
2015 Finland EOWYF Bronze medal 3 2 1 3 +4 2
2015 Finland Hlinka Memorial 4th Place 5 0 0 0 +1 0
2015 Finland WHC 5th place 5 4th 4th 8th 4th
2016 Finland U18 World Cup gold medal 7th 2 4th 6th +8 6th
2017 Finland U20 World Cup 9th place 6th 1 1 2 -4 0
2017 Finland U18 World Cup Silver medal 7th 6th 7th 13 +5 8th
2018 Finland U20 World Cup 6th place 5 2 4th 6th +6 2
Juniors overall 44 20th 23 43 26th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jets sign Kristian Vesalainen to three-year contract. nhl.com, August 26, 2018, accessed June 29, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Vesalainen, Kristian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1999
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsinki , Finland