Sami Niku
 Sami Niku 
|
|
|---|---|
| Date of birth | October 10, 1996 |
| place of birth | Haapavesi , Finland |
| size | 183 cm |
| Weight | 80 kg |
| position | defender |
| Shot hand | Left |
| Draft | |
| NHL Entry Draft |
2015 , 7th round, 198th position Winnipeg Jets |
| Career stations | |
| until 2017 | JYP Jyväskylä |
| since 2017 |
Winnipeg Jets Manitoba Moose |
Sami Niku (* 10. October 1996 in Haapavesi ) is a Finnish ice hockey player , who since May 2017 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 .
Career
Sami Niku went through the youth department of JYP Jyväskylä in his youth and was active for their U20s from the 2012/13 season in the Jr. A SM-liiga, the highest junior league in Finland. In the following season he was mainly used by JYP-Akatemia , the JYP farm team , in the Mestis , the second highest professional game class in the country. In the 2014/15 season, the defender scored 25 points in 39 games for Akatemia and made his debut for the club's first team in the Liiga . He was then selected in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft in 198th position by the Winnipeg Jets .
As a result, Niku established himself in JYP Jyväskylä's squad and placed himself among the ten best-scoring defenders of the Liiga in the 2016/17 season, so that he was awarded an entry contract by the Winnipeg Jets in May 2017 . The following season he moved to North America and was henceforth used in the Jets' farm team, the Manitoba Moose , in the American Hockey League (AHL). The Finn also presented himself as an attacking defender in Manitoba, making him the second best scorer of his team with 54 points, while only Jacob MacDonald surpassed him among the defenders of the league . As a result, he received the Eddie Shore Award for Best Defender and was elected to the AHL First All-Star Team and the AHL All-Rookie Team . In addition, Niku made his debut for the Jets in the National Hockey League (NHL) in April 2018 and promptly scored his first goal.
International
Niku gained his first international experience at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge 2013 , before winning the gold medal at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival 2013 with the Finnish selection . At U18 level, he took part in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament 2013 and the U18 World Cup in 2014 , before joining the U20 national team at the U20 World Championships in 2015 and 2016 , where he won the gold medal in 2016.
Achievements and Awards
- 2018 Eddie Shore Award
- 2018 AHL First All-Star Team
- 2018 AHL All-Rookie Team
International
- 2013 gold medal at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival
- 2016 gold medal at the U20 World Junior Championship
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 | ||
| 2012/13 | JYP Jyväskylä U20 | Jr. A SM liiga | 30th | 0 | 8th | 8th | -3 | 22nd | 6th | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 | ||
| 2013/14 | JYP Jyväskylä U20 | Jr. A SM liiga | 20th | 4th | 10 | 14th | +1 | 20th | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2013/14 | JYP Akatemia | Mestis | 30th | 0 | 3 | 3 | +2 | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2014/15 | JYP Akatemia | Mestis | 39 | 3 | 22nd | 25th | +8 | 24 | 6th | 0 | 5 | 5 | +2 | 4th | ||
| 2014/15 | JYP Jyväskylä | Liiga | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 6th | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2015/16 | JYP Akatemia | Mestis | 7th | 0 | 2 | 2 | +1 | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2015/16 | JYP Jyväskylä | Liiga | 38 | 4th | 7th | 11 | +2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2016/17 | JYP Jyväskylä | Liiga | 59 | 5 | 22nd | 27 | +3 | 26th | 15th | 1 | 5 | 6th | -1 | 2 | ||
| 2017/18 | Manitoba mosses | AHL | 76 | 16 | 38 | 54 | +17 | 30th | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 2 | ||
| 2017/18 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ± 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2018/19 | Manitoba mosses | AHL | 20th | 3 | 9 | 12 | −6 | 14th | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2018/19 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 30th | 1 | 3 | 4th | ± 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2019/20 | Manitoba mosses | AHL | 18th | 3 | 11 | 14th | −6 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2019/20 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 17th | 0 | 5 | 5 | -2 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Jr. A SM-liiga overall | 50 | 4th | 18th | 22nd | -2 | 22nd | 6th | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 | ||||
| Mestis total | 76 | 3 | 27 | 30th | +11 | 44 | 6th | 0 | 5 | 5 | +2 | 4th | ||||
| Liiga overall | 109 | 9 | 30th | 39 | +6 | 34 | 15th | 1 | 5 | 6th | -1 | 2 | ||||
| AHL total | 114 | 22nd | 58 | 80 | +5 | 56 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 2 | ||||
| NHL overall | 48 | 2 | 8th | 10 | -2 | 14th | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
International
Represented Finland at:
| year | team | event | result | Sp | T | V | Pt | +/- | SM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Finland | WHC | 7th place | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4th | ||
| 2013 | Finland | EOWYF |
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +7 | 2 | |
| 2013 | Finland | Hlinka Memorial | 5th place | 4th | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 4th | |
| 2014 | Finland | U18 World Cup | 6th place | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 | |
| 2015 | Finland | U20 World Cup | 7th place | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 0 | |
| 2016 | Finland | U20 World Cup |
|
7th | 1 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 2 | |
| Juniors overall | 29 | 4th | 4th | 8th | 12 | |||||
( 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
- ^ Jets sign Sami Niku to entry-level contract. nhl.com, May 15, 2017, accessed on May 19, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Niku, Sami |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Finnish ice hockey player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 10, 1996 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Haapavesi , Finland |