Sami Niku (born 10 October 1996) 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 hock ...

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 la ...

currently playing with JYP Jyväskylä of the

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 ...

. Niku was selected by the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

in the 7th round (198th overall) of the

2015 NHL Entry Draft The 2015 NHL Entry Draft was the 53rd NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 26–27, 2015, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The first three selections were Connor McDavid going to the Edmonton Oilers, Jack Eichel going to the Buffa ...

Playing career

Niku made his

debut playing with JYP Jyväskylä during the 2014–15 Liiga season. Following the 2016–17 season with JYP, having played his first full season in the Liiga in posting 27 points in 59 games, Niku agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets on May 15, 2017. He played most of the 2017–18 season with the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets o ...

, the Jets'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) affiliate. He was called up by the Jets on April 1, 2018, and scored his first goal in his NHL debut in a Jets' win over the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

on April 3. At conclusion of the 2017–18 regular season, Niku was voted as the AHL's top defenseman, as well as earning AHL First All-Star team and the AHL All-Rookie honours. On 21 September 2021, Niku was bought out of his contract with the Jets. Three days later, he signed a one-year contract with the

. A week later, in his first pre-season game with the team, Niku sustained a concussion after being hit from behind by

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

player

Josh Norris Joshua Norris (born May 5, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey center currently playing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks and ...

and was ruled out indefinitely. As a free agent from the Canadiens, Niku opted to return to Finland agreeing to re-join original club, JYP Jyväskylä of the Liiga, on a one-year contract for the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season on 29 July 2022.

International play

Internationally, Niku played in the

2014 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2014 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 16th IIHF World U18 Championship, and was hosted by Lappeenranta and Imatra, Finland. The tournament began on 17 April 2014, with the gold medal game played on 27 April 2014. Top Division Officials ...

, the

2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 39th edition of Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, played from December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015. It was co-hosted by Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and organized by ...

, and the

2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 40th Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Helsinki, Finland. It began on December 26, 2015, and ended with the gold medal game on January 5, 2016. This marked the sixth time ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1996 births Living people Finnish ice hockey defencemen JYP Jyväskylä players Laval Rocket players Manitoba Moose players Montreal Canadiens players People from Haapavesi Winnipeg Jets draft picks Winnipeg Jets players Sportspeople from North Ostrobothnia {{Finland-icehockey-defenceman-stub