As his 11th pro season approaches, Finnish-born center Joonas Kemppainen(41) will take his game to the KHL in 2016/2017 joining Sibir Novosibirsk.
The fairly large 6’2″ 223 lbs. forward signed a one-year two-way deal as a free agent with Boston Bruins for his first North American campaign.
He played 44 NHL games scoring 2 goals and 3 assists in a mostly checking line role before he was reassigned to Providence Bruins for the last month of 2015/2016.
His one goal and 4 assists in 11 AHL games was a little underwhelming and he was not inserted into the lineup for any contests in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
It’s possible the team got word he would be splitting town as soon as his year was officially up.
He already had a lot of experience playing pro hockey in his home country skating 2 years for Assat (his junior club parent team), HPK, and then 5 seasons signed to Karpat, where he won a pair of back-to-back 2014 and 2015 Liiga Championships and had breakout scoring in his 2nd title run.
The 28-year old has never been the most prolific scorer but with his big frame and solid skating could post new career highs in the upcoming season.