Vesalainen Back In North America

Kristian Vesalainen has returned to North America after his season recently wrapped up in the KHL. It was a bit of an early exit for Jokerit as they were the fourth seed in the conference heading into the playoffs. They lost 4-2 in the first round to HC Dynamo and Vesalainen recorded one assist in the series.

It wasn’t a great result in the playoffs, but Vesalainen had a strong season overall as he finished with 17 points in 31 games played. When looking at his peers in the KHL, Vesalainen finished second in points among players under 20, but first in points per game because he missed the first part of the season. Kravtsov was the only teenager ahead of Vesalainen and he had 21 points in 50 games.

It’s obvious that Vesalainen wants to keep playing hockey this year and for good reason. He had a very hectic beginning of the season and with all the travelling, he missed a lot of time on the ice. Getting back to North America is a great opportunity to have Vesalainen acquaint himself with the organization after being overseas for the past several months.

So now that Vesalainen has returned, what does the organization do with him? There was some confusion around his eligibility and his contract status coming from overseas. It’s a fairly unique situation and something the Jets haven’t had to deal with before.

The first thing is that he needs to finish the season with the Moose and not the Jets. This is important because of his contract situation. If Vesalainen were to play 10 games with the Jets (he’s already played 5) then he would burn the first year of his contract and would become an RFA one year early. This is important because letting the contract slide allows the Jets to keep him on his ELC for one more season and reap the benefits of a cheap contract during the cap crunch.

The other important detail is in regards to the upcoming expansion draft. If Vesalainen plays 11 games, then he will have one year of pro experience in relation to the expansion rules. Essentially this means that the Jets would have to protect him from Seattle. If Vesalainen doesn’t play 11 NHL games, then he would stay exempt and the Jets would be able to protect someone else.

From the Jets perspective, it’s a no-brainer to have Vesalainen go down to the Moose. The Jets lineup is set and keeping Vesalainen’s ELC as long as possible is in the best interest of the organization.

The other quirk about sending Vesalainen to the Moose is that he will be able to play with them in the playoffs if the Moose can squeak their way in. While the NHL has a rule that someone not on the roster at the trade deadline is not eligible to play in the playoffs, the AHL does not follow the same rules. That means that even though Vesalainen wasn’t a Moose player at the trade deadline, he would still be able to play the rest of the season and the playoffs with them.

This is massively important as the Moose are fighting for the final playoff spot with 14 games left to go. They currently sit three points out, but have two games in hand on the Texas Stars. The Moose have been rolling as of late as they have a 5-1-1 record in their last 7 games and have been on a great home-winning streak for a while now.

The question now remains, where does Vesalainen fit on the Moose? Earlier in the year, he was playing on the second line with Shaw and Lipon. They were playing well together and Vesalainen ended up with 8 points in his 8 games with the team while looking dominant on the second line.

This point per game pace puts Vesalainen at the very top of the list when it comes to Moose players this year. The only other player that has been close is Mason Appleton with 23 points in 26 games. The addition of Appleton in the last couple weeks along with Vesalainen should do wonders for the club as they are pushing towards the playoffs. The Moose could definitely use another scoring winger to bolster the top six. If they want to leave the top line of Griffith, Shaw, and Appleton intact, Vesalainen could easily join the second line along with Dano and Spacek.

No matter where Vesalainen ends up on the roster, he will certainly provide a big boost with his natural scoring ability and large frame. This should be exactly what the Moose need as they try to chase down the Stars for the final playoff spot in the division. This is also a great opportunity for Vesalainen to showcase his skills in the important moments for the organization. It will also allow him to become more familiar with the systems and style of the North American game. If all goes well to end the season, Vesalainen is a prime candidate to work his way into the Jets lineup next season.