Markus Nutivaara (born 6 June 1994) is a Finnish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. Nutivaara was selected by the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

in the 7th round (189th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Nutivaara made his debut in Finland's top-division,

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

, playing with

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish language, Finnish for "Oulu Stoat, Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish champion ...

during the

2014–15 Liiga season The 2014–15 SM-liiga season was the 40th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Teams Regular season Top six advanced straight to quarter-finals, while teams between 7th and 10th p ...

. He helped win the 2015

title, making 35 appearances in regular season (zero goals, two assists) and 16 in post-season play (one goal, five assists). He also gained international experience competing in the

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

with Kärpät, advancing to the semi-finals. In 2015–16, Nutivaara saw the ice in 50 games during the

regular season, chipping in with six goals, while dishing out 16 assists. He also played in seven playoff contests, recording one goal as well as four assists. In

play, Nutivaara had 13 appearances, scoring four goals and assisting on five more on the way to the championship game, where Kärpät fell short to Swedish

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

. He put pen to paper on a two-year entry-level contract with the

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) in May 2016. During the 2016–17 season, he scored his first NHL goal on 12 November 2016, against the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

to help clinch an 8–4 victory. On 30 March 2018, Nutivaara was signed to a four-year, $10.8 million contract extension to remain with the Blue Jackets. On 8 October 2020, Nutivaara ended his tenure with the Blue Jackets after four seasons when he was traded to the

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

in exchange for

Cliff Pu Clifford Pu (born June 3, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently a player for Sheffield Steelers of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). He was selected 69th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. ...

. After he was limited to just 1 game during season due to injury, Nutivaara left the Panthers as a free agent and was signed to a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

on 13 July 2022. Despite this, Nutivaara was unable to appear in any games with the Sharks due to a hip injury, and subsequently retired following the 2022–23 season.

International play

He made his debut with the Finnish national team at the 2015 Channel One Cup in Prague and Moscow. On 30 April 2018, Nutivaara was selected to participate in his first IIHF sanctioned event for Finland at the 2018 World Championships in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nutivaara, Markus 1994 births Living people Cleveland Monsters players Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks Columbus Blue Jackets players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey defencemen Florida Panthers players Hokki players Jokipojat players Oulun Kärpät players Ice hockey people from Oulu 21st-century Finnish sportsmen