Sami Niku (born 10 October 1996) is a Finnish 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 ...

currently playing with

Lausanne HC Lausanne Hockey Club is an ice hockey team based in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (NL). During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the HC Lausanne signed National Hockey League players Martin St. Louis and Andy Ro ...

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL). He was selected in the seventh round, 198th overall, by the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

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 the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Niku made his

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 ...

debut playing with

JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the Synergia-areena, LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväsk ...

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 ...

. 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. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre. The fran ...

, the Jets'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(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 Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

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 (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

player

Josh Norris Joshua Norris (born May 5, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey center for the Buffalo Sabres 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 in 2018 was trad ...

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 ...

season on 29 July 2022. For the 2024-25 season, Niku signed a one-year contract with the Swiss club

EHC Kloten EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the National League (NL). It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 year ...

of the NL. On April 30, 2025, Niku signed a two-year contract with the

, remaining in the NL.

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 Championship 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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Niku, Sami 1996 births Living people 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finnish ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from North Ostrobothnia Ilves players JYP Jyväskylä players EHC Kloten players Laval Rocket players Manitoba Moose players Montreal Canadiens players People from Haapavesi Winnipeg Jets draft picks Winnipeg Jets players