Hey there, friends. We’ve got some Red Wings-related news to banter about! The Wings announced Tuesday afternoon that forward prospect Jesse Kiiskinen has signed his three-year entry-level deal.
Kiiskinen, who turns 20 in August, spent last season with HPK in Finland’s top league. Kiiskinen had a breakout year, leading his team in assists and points while tied for third in goal-scoring. At the end of the season, the Finn had an impressive stat line of 44 points (14-30–44) in 46 games. Yep, the team’s offensive leader at just the tender age of 19 years old. Not to be forgotten — Kiiskinen also served as alternate captain for Team finland at World Juniors, where he was at a point-per-game click in seven games.
So where the heck did this guy come from? Kiiskinen was originally drafted by the Nashville Predators in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft. Detroit acquired him in 2024 in exchange for defenseman Andrew Gibson.
Now, my knowledge on European prospect contract situations is not great, but I believe Kiiskinen will return to HPK next season. Presumably he would be an addition for the Grand Rapids Griffins whenver his season ends.
Jesse Kiiskinen looks to be a sneaky good pickup for Steve Yzerman if the budding Finnish star can stay on the same trajectory as he was coming out of this last season. All of his highlights show a lot of talent and promise as I saw them, but we’ll have to wait and let the guy go through the “process” to see where he fits into the Red Wings organization.
