Iiro Pakarinen (born 25 August 1991) is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

player for

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

. Pakarinen previously played in Liiga with

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club relocated to Kuop ...

, and has also played in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL) with Jokerit, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and

Barys Nur-Sultan Hockey Club Barys ( kk, Барыс хоккей клубы , translit=Barys Hokkei Kluby), also referred to as Barys Astana or HC Barys, is a professional ice hockey team based in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is one of the founding members of the Kontine ...

, and in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) with the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

Playing career

Pakarinen played in his native Finland from his youth level with professional Liiga club,

. As a skilled, versatile forward, Pakarinen was drafted 184th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home g ...

. Unable to agree to terms with the Panthers, Pakarinen opted to continue his development in the Finnish Liiga with KalPa. On 3 May 2012, he joined

as a free agent on a two-year contract. Upon completion of his second season with HIFK in 2013–14 and scoring a career-high 20 goals and 30 points, Pakarinen signed his first NHL contract as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers on a two-year entry-level deal on 16 June 2014. On 1 December 2017, he was placed on waivers by the Oilers, and was then sent to their AHL affiliate, the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their hom ...

, on 2 December. On 2 July 2018, Pakarinen left the Oilers and the NHL as a free agent, signing a one-year contract with Russian club, Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. In the 2018–19 season, Pakarinen made as positive impact with Metallurg, producing 19 goals and 26 points in 60 games. On 2 May 2019, having concluded his contract with Metallurg, Pakarinen continued in the KHL, signing a one-year deal with Kazakh-based,

. In the following 2019–20 season, Pakarinen suffered an injury-hit year, featuring in just 22 games and registering 10 points. He collected 1 goal in 5 post-season games before the playoffs were canceled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

. On 11 May 2020, Pakarinen opted to return to Finland and remain in the KHL, signing a three-year contract with Jokerit.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1991 births Living people Bakersfield Condors players Barys Nur-Sultan players Edmonton Oilers players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey right wingers Florida Panthers draft picks HIFK (ice hockey) players Jokerit players KalPa players Metallurg Magnitogorsk players Oklahoma City Barons players People from Suonenjoki Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey people from North Savo Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Kazakhstan Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia {{Finland-icehockey-winger-stub