Penguin defender Juuso Riikola signs in Sweden
The Juuso Riikola era has come to an end in Pittsburgh.
On Wednesday, the veteran signed a one-year contract with IK Oskarshamn in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). His contract was announced by the team.
Riikola, born in Finland, spent the last four seasons as a member of the Penguins after signing as a free agent in May 2018.
Riikola, 28, showed some intrigue as a rookie during the 2018-19 season, participated in 37 games and scored five points (two goals, three assists).
A left-handed shot, Riikola was pressed in as a left-hander on the fourth line during the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign when he played in 36 games and noted the career-best seven points (one goal, six assists).
After former Penguin general manager Jim Rutherford curiously signed Riikola to a two-year contract extension with a salary cap of $ 1.15 million during the low season of 2020, Riikola rarely played in the NHL for the duration of the contract.
After injuries limited him to two games and no points during the 2020-21 campaign, Riikola’s cap hit and ineffective play led to him only playing in five games while he only recorded one assist during the 2021-22 season.
Riikola spent most of last season with Wilkes-Barre / Scranton in the American Hockey League (AHL) and was the team’s third leading scorer with 35 points (one goal, 34 assists) in 53 games.
In 80 NHL career games, Riikola had 13 points (three goals, 10 assists).
As for his NHL rights, Riikola was scheduled to become an unlimited free agent on July 13.
Riikola’s departure leaves the Penguins with 12 players scheduled to become unlimited free agents this offseason:
Forward – Anthony Angello, Brian Boyle, Michael Chaput, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell, Evan Rodrigues
Defenders – Nathan Beaulieu, Taylor Fedun, Kris Letang
Goalkeepers – Casey DeSmith, Louis Domingue
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Seth Rorabaugh is a staff writer at Tribune-Review. You can contact Seth via email at [email protected] or via Twitter .