Now that there is a transfer agreement in place between Finns and the NHL, the 2008 draft picks will expire after tomorrow, 31st of May. A total of seven Finns were drafted two years ago and three of them remain unsigned.

The most prominent prospect of the trio is Jori Lehterä. The highly skilled center was already two years over-aged when he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues. After dominating the Finnish junior league with Jokerit in 2006–07, he made a solid career move by signing with Tappara.

He had an excellent rookie year in SM-liiga, finished 19th in the league in scoring (13+29=42 in 54 games) and probably would’ve been the rookie of the year if the SM-liiga awards voting took place after the regular season. Lehterä had his first taste of North American hockey in 2009 when he finished the season on a tryout with the Peoria Rivermen.

This year he took another huge jump in development, finishing first in SM-liiga scoring and assists and being the regular season MVP according to both the league and other players. He was also part of Team Finland’s World Championship squad, but didn’t really have a role to fit his strengths.

Anyway, the problem with Lehterä seems to be that he’s too good. According to the soon-to-be-former Assistant GM of the St. Louis Blues, Jarmo Kekäläinen, they have tried to get him signed, but a two-way contract with a smallish signing bonus doesn’t seem that interesting when you’re being offered “seven figures” by KHL clubs. If, and most probably when, Lehterä is not signed, he will be an unrestricted free agent.

Eero Elo was a fifth round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2008. The big winger had an interesting year, splitting time between Lukko’s junior and pro teams, the Mestis team KooKoo and the Finnish U20 team. His PPG in the junior league has improved from 0.64 in 2007–08 to 1.10 in 2008–09 to 1.89 this year and he had an impressive six game point streak in SM-liiga as well, so he could very well be re-drafted if the Wild fails to sign him

Matias Sointu is the third unsigned prospect. He was the seventh round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning two years ago, but after that he has missed an almost complete season with a shoulder injury and played another in the OHL which was average at best. He did make the Finnish WJC squad, but didn’t show anything special there, either. Sointu recently signed a contract with Ilves, so he’ll return to Finland for the 2010–11 season.

First of all, the name of Matt Nickerson seems to have appeared on the player list of the Edmonton Oilers website. It has been reported that the Oilers are trying to help the development of their prospects by adding some more experienced players on the Springfield Falcons roster. Nickerson is likely to be one of them, even though he has much more experience from SM-liiga than the AHL.

There was also another surprise signing earlier this week, when the New Jersey Devils announced they had signed winger Ilkka Pikkarainen. Pikkarainen is already 28, so he can’t be considered a prospect at this point of his career. He scored a career high 24 goals in SM-liiga last year.

Prospect Camps

At the same time when Finnish teams are about to begin their on-ice training, NHL clubs are having their prospect development camps. I’ve tried to gather a comprehensive list of Finnish players who are attending the camps of their respective NHL clubs.

Ilkka Heikkinen attended the Rangers’ camp which took place earlier this week. According to a Hockey’s Future article, he was a standout among the blueliners, which he should be, considering that most of the participants are significantly younger and less experienced than he is.

Teemu Hartikainen and Toni Rajala will be tearing up the Oilers development camp which starts on Monday. I’m sure Coming Down the Pipe in going to follow the camp closely.

Minnesota Wild’s camp will have a strong Finnish flavour to it, as there are a total of four Finns attending. Their both 2009 draft picks Erik Haula and Jere Sallinen will be there, as will their 2007 6th round pick Harri Ilvonen and 2008 5th round pick Eero Elo. The Wild camp opens on Tuesday.

The Canadiens also drafted a pair of Finns this year and both Joonas Nättinen and Petteri Similä are on their camp roster. Nashville Predators also have a number of Finnish prospects, so their camp, opening on Wednesday, also interests me. Their 2008 7th round pick Jani Lajunen is attending, as is their 2007 7th round pick Atte Engren. Teemu Laakso is also there, but that goes without saying, I guess.

St. Louis Blues will announce their camp roster just before the camp opens on Wednesday and I expect to see Jori Lehterä‘s name on it. Washington Capitals will open their camp in a week and Oskar Osala could be participating, depending a bit on the profile of players the Capitals want to see on their camp. Riku Helenius is naturally attending the Tampa Bay Lightning camp.

I couldn’t find the development camp rosters of the following clubs: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks If you can help me with any of these, I’d be grateful. Is Joni Ortio attending the Flames camp? Is Perttu Lindgren going to the Stars camp? Mikko Koskinen is for sure on the Islanders camp? What about Tommi Kivistö and Rasmus Rissanen and the Hurricanes?

edit: According to a blog post from June 29th, both Rasmus Rissanen and Tommi Kivistö should attend the Carolina Hurricanes prospect camp. According to the same post, Kai Kantola (he may have born in Canada and grown in the US, but his parents are Finnish) is also attending their camp. No official roster has been announced yet, but their camp doesn’t open until July 15th, so there is still time.