The Penguins signed 2019 seventh-round pick Valtteri Puustinen to a two-year entry-level contract, general manager Ron Hextall announced on Thursday.
The contract begins next season.
Puustinen, who turns 22 next month, is a right-handed shot and can play both wings.
Director of player development Scott Young told Dave Molinari this season that Puustinen has "real good offensive hockey sense. He's got good speed. He's putting up some real good numbers in the Finnish league."
Puustinen finished No. 2 in scoring for his club HPK this season, scoring 21 goals and 20 assists in 51 games.
"Valtteri is a skilled forward with a great shot who utilizes his speed to play the style of game that we want to play here in Pittsburgh," assistant general manager Patrik Allvin said in a team release. "He's really matured as a player over the last couple of years playing with HPK and the Finnish national team, which is really exciting for us."
Puustinen was among HPK's fastest skaters this season, with a top speed during the regular season of 22.86 miles per hour.
I spoke to Puustinen (well, through Emil Larmi acting as translator) for a story earlier in the season, and he spoke of how he thinks his size (5-9, 183 pounds) has helped him in his career.
"I don’t see that as a weakness," Puustinen said.. "Because of my size I’ve learned to play some situations differently and I think that has improved my game."
Puustinen said that his favorite player to watch currently is another crafty, strong-skating Finnish winger, Sebastian Aho, because "he’s good at everything."
Puustinen's nickname in Finland is "Kuopion Phil Kessel'"(Kuopio is Puustinen's hometown). Larmi called Puustinen "a young Kessel," last season, other players on the team call Puustinen Kessel, and HPK's play-by-play broadcasters even sometimes call him "Kessel" in their goal calls for him.
"It was my dad who started to call me 'the Kuopion Phil Kessel' and then everyone else started to use that," he told me. "I don’t know if it was before or after the Pens drafted me. I think it’s funny."
But why Kessel?
"Probably because I look like him."
Puustinen is currently at Finland's camp for the 2021 World Championship, which is why he didn't come to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the conclusion of this season.