Introduction
Aleksi Saarela (born 7 January 1997) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward. He is currently under contract as a prospect to the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally selected 89th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.
Playing career
Saarela made his SM-liiga debut playing with Lukko during the 2012–13 SM-liiga season. On 28 February 2016, the rights to Saarela, along with two draft picks, were traded from the New York Rangers to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Eric Staal.
In the 2015–16 season, Saarela led Porin Ässät with 20 goals and finished third in overal scoring with 33 points in 51 games. On 20 April 2016, he signed a one-year contract to return to his original club, Lukko, on a one-year contract. Under two months later, on 13 June 2016, Saarela was then signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2012–13 | Lukko | Jr. A | 22 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Lukko | SM-l | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Lukko | Jr. A | 17 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Lukko | Liiga | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Ässät | Liiga | 51 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Ässät | Liiga | 51 | 20 | 13 | 33 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 117 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Finland | U17 | 7th | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Finland | WJC18 | 6th | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | Finland | WJC18 |  | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WJC |  | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 21 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 12 | ||||