Florida Panthers‘ 6th year Finnish flash forward Henrik Haapala(25) was a bit of a late training camp cut reassigned to affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds but wasn’t always in the roster mix and sat for a pair of stretches before he was recalled for his first NHL action just over a month into the new season.
The small 5’9″ 165 lbs. left wing has scored 2 goals and 5 assists with a +1 rating, a game-winning tally and 2 penalty minutes in 11 AHL games on a squad that’s only just starting to string together wins, but sits at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.
For his debut he skated 23 shifts for 13:58 of total ice time with an assist, a +1 rating, 1 hits and 1 play breakup in a 2-1 shootout victory.
He came across with over 250 games of experience playing for Taapara, where he spent all of his juniors time and helped them win back-to-back 2016 and 2017 Liiga Championships while collecting a league leading 45 assists and 60 points.
The 23-year old looks to have quite a future but may still spend some time in the minors as part of his two-year entry level deal through 2019.