Today the Devils announced that they and restricted free agent Janne Kuokkanen have come to terms on a new contract. The contract is for two years and is worth $3,650,000 (annual average value of $1,600,000).
He is owed $1,600,000 in 2921-22 and $2,050,000 in 2022-23.
The 23-year-old forward played his rookie season with New Jersey after being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes on February 23, 2020 (with Fredrik Claesson and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020 – which became Nico Daws) in the Sami Vatanen trade. He was Carolina’s second-round pick in the 2016 Draft.
He notched his first NHL goal on January 31, 2021 according to the Devils PR team’s press release, on his way to totaling eight goals and 17 assists on the season (25 points) over 50 games played. His point total was second amongst all Devils rookies – no small feat considering the number of young players the Devils trotted out last season.
He began 2020-21 with Karpat of Liiga in Finland according to the press release. He played in 16 games for them, accumulating three goals and four assists (seven points).
In 2019-20, he was the Charlotte Checkers’ leading scorer while in the Carolina system. He scored 19 goals and 30 assists (52 points) that season. He then played with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL following being moved and scored three goals and three assists for six points over four games. He played one game that year with the NHL Devils.
His previous NHL experience saw him in seven games with the Hurricanes in 2018-19. With AHL Charlotte that season, he had 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points and was an AHL All-Star. Over 164 AHL games, he has 38 goals and 88 assists for 120 points.
Prior to turning professional, the 6-foot, 1-inch, 195-pounder played a season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and at the pro and junior level with Karpat.
Internationally, he has represented Finland at the World Junior Championship (2017 and 2018) and the under-18 World Junior tournament in 2016 where he won a gold medal.
All information in this post came from the Devils’ press release.