Antti Suomela

Antti Suomela
Born (1994-03-17) 17 March 1994 (age 30)
Espoo, Finland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 172 lb (78 kg; 12 st 4 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Left
NL team
Former teams		 Lausanne HC
Espoo Blues
JYP
San Jose Sharks
HIFK
IK Oskarshamn
National team  Finland
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2015–present

Antti Suomela (born 17 March 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for Lausanne HC of the National League (NL).

Playing career

Suomela made his Liiga debut playing with Espoo Blues during the 2015–16 Liiga season.[1]

He won the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy for the most points scored during the regular season, posting 21 goals and 60 points in 59 games in the 2017–18 Liiga season with JYP Jyväskylä.[2] He also won the 2017–18 Champions Hockey League with JYP Jyväskylä.

Gaining NHL interest, Suomela agreed to a one-year, entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks on 6 June 2018.[3] After attending his first NHL training camp with the Sharks, Suomela made the opening night roster for the 2018–19 season. Suomela made his NHL a debut on 3 October,[4] and recorded his first NHL point in a 3–2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on 5 October 2018.[5]

He was re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Sharks to a one-year, two-way contract on 11 July 2019.[6]

Suomela continued his tenure within the Sharks organization by signing a one-year, two-way contract on 7 October 2020.[7] On 9 October, having remained in Finland due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Suomela was loaned by the Sharks to return to competitive hockey by joining Finnish top flight Liiga club, HIFK, on loan until the commencement of the delayed 2020–21 NHL season.[8] In 10 appearances with HIFK, Suomela added 2 goals and 5 points before returning to the Sharks organization. He was dealt by the Sharks at the trade deadline to the Toronto Maple Leafs on 12 April 2021 in exchange for Alexander Barabanov.[9]

With his contract concluded with the Maple Leafs, Suomela remained within the organization signing a one-year AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies on 15 June 2021.[10]

Returning to Europe as a free agent for the 2022–23 season, Suomela signed a one-year contract in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with IK Oskarshamn on 12 May 2022.[11] Rediscovering his offensive touch, Suomela quickly transitioned into Oskarshamn's top scoring threat and in 51 regular season games he finished top in the SHL in scoring with 37 goals and 66 points. He was awarded the Håkan Loob Trophy and the Guldhjälmen as the league MVP. He made three post-season appearances with Oskarshamn, however was unable to propel the club to the playoffs in losing in three games to Luleå HF in the Eighth finals.

On 13 March 2023, Suomela as a pending free agent opted to leave the SHL after just one season in signing a lucrative two-year contract with Swiss club, Lausanne HC of the National League (NL).[12]

Career statistics

Bold indicates led league

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11 Kiekko-Espoo FIN U18 Q 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Kiekko-Espoo FIN.2 U18 17 6 3 9 0 — — — — —
2011–12 Blues FIN U18 28 3 9 12 14 12 4 1 5 16
2011–12 Blues II FIN U18 Q 10 3 11 14 2 — — — — —
2011–12 Blues II FIN.2 U18 5 5 3 8 0 — — — — —
2012–13 Blues Jr. A 17 2 7 9 6 2 0 0 0 0
2012–13 Blues II Jr. B 10 6 4 10 8 — — — — —
2013–14 Blues Jr. A 40 11 17 28 36 11 1 5 6 6
2014–15 Blues Jr. A 44 27 38 65 12 9 6 4 10 2
2015–16 Blues Jr. A 6 5 7 12 2 9 3 8 11 8
2015–16 Blues Liiga 52 13 13 26 20 — — — — —
2016–17 JYP Liiga 58 22 23 45 37 15 4 2 6 0
2017–18 JYP Liiga 59 21 39 60 6 6 1 2 3 0
2018–19 San Jose Sharks NHL 27 3 5 8 4 — — — — —
2018–19 San Jose Barracuda AHL 47 6 14 20 14 2 0 1 1 0
2019–20 San Jose Barracuda AHL 14 5 4 9 6 — — — — —
2019–20 San Jose Sharks NHL 20 1 6 7 4 — — — — —
2020–21 HIFK Liiga 10 2 3 5 4 — — — — —
2020–21 San Jose Barracuda AHL 10 1 5 6 2 — — — — —
2020–21 San Jose Sharks NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2020–21 Toronto Marlies AHL 7 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2021–22 Toronto Marlies AHL 48 14 12 26 10 — — — — —
2022–23 IK Oskarshamn SHL 51 37 29 66 45 3 2 4 6 2
Liiga totals 179 58 78 136 67 21 5 4 9 0
NHL totals 51 4 11 15 8 — — — — —
SHL totals 51 37 29 66 45 3 2 4 6 2

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2018 Finland WC 5th 4 1 0 1 0
Senior totals 4 1 0 1 0

Awards and honours

Award Year
Liiga
Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy 2018 [2]
Champions Hockey League
Champion 2017–18
SHL
Håkan Loob Trophy 2023
Guldhjälmen 2023

References

  1. ^ "Antti Suomela hockey statistics and profile". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Tässä ovat runkosarjan parhaat 2017–18 – katso palkintojen voittajat" (in Finnish). Liiga.fi. 18 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Sharks sign center Antti Suomela". San Jose Sharks. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  4. ^ Pashelka, Curtis (3 October 2018). "Sharks center fired up for NHL debut: "This has been my dream"". The Mercury News. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  5. ^ Greenspan, Dan (6 October 2018). "Sharks get first win with Karlsson, defeat Kings in overtime". National Hockey League. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Sharks Re-Sign Forward Antti Suomela". National Hockey League. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Sharks Issue Qualifying Offers, Sign Two Players". National Hockey League. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Antti Suomela on loan to HIFK" (in Finnish). HIFK. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Sharks Acquire Forward Alexander Barabanov from Toronto for Antti Suomela". National Hockey League. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Marlies sign forwards Chyzowski and Suomela". Toronto Marlies. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Finnish center joins from AHL" (in Swedish). IK Oskarshamn. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Antti Suomela joins Lausanne HC" (in French). Lausanne HC. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.