Emil Larmi's time in the Penguins' organization has come to a close.
The (now former) Penguins goaltending prospect was set to become a restricted free agent this summer. The Lahti Pelicans of the top Finnish league announced on Monday the signing of 24-year-old Larmi to a two-year contract that allows Larmi the option to return to North America if an opportunity presents itself.
Lahti is Larmi's hometown, and he grew up playing in the Pelicans' youth system.
"Few decisions have felt so good," Larmi said on Twitter when the news became public. "Can't wait!"
"He is a great person and a great athlete with a sense of continuous improvement and development in mind," Pelicans head coach Tommi Niemelä said of Larmi in a team release. "An athlete of that level, when you get on the team, he acts as a leader for everyone else."
After Pittsburgh's season ended Larmi stopped in Wilkes-Barre to pack up his apartment there. While he was doing so he made an Instagram post Sunday night announcing his intention to return to Finland, saying that his two seasons in North American have been "the toughest years of my life."
"While finishing packing the apartment where I haven’t even been in three months, I finally had a moment to make this post," Larmi began. "Last two years have definitely been the toughest years of my life. It feels like Edward Murphy has been following me all the time with his laws. It’s pretty clear that things didn’t went as planned. Lot of bad luck, bad timing and even worse results. There have been times when I’ve just wanted to leave everything and I bet I’ve been through every bad thought a person can have. Even though this might be the most negative post I’ve ever done, that’s not the whole truth. In the end I’m grateful what I’ve experienced and what these years have done to me as a human being. I’m grateful of the people I have around me and who have kept my head above the water. I kinda feel like the kid who came to the States two years ago is going back as a man, on and off the ice.
"Now it’s a good time to focus on something else than chasing the dream here. It’s not a good bye, it’s see you later. Don’t know when, but some day. Just huge thanks to everyone who’ve been here with me. Now I just can’t wait to get back home."
The "bad luck, bad timing" Larmi mentioned in his post limited him to just six games in Wilkes-Barre this season, and 20 total games last season split between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre.
Larmi began the 2020-21 season in Wilkes-Barre and played three games in the first week before being recalled to Pittsburgh's taxi squad. He stayed in Pittsburgh for a month, then struggled in his return to Wilkes-Barre. In his penultimate start, he allowed four goals on 12 shots and was pulled after 24 minutes. In his last start, he allowed four goals on five shots and was pulled after eight minutes.
"This season he actually started off exceptionally well," goaltending development coach Andy Chiodo told me of Larmi last month. "He had two really fine preseason games, three really good games to start the regular season in Wilkes, and had a little break in the season, three-plus weeks missing games (with the taxi squad) and had a little bit of a challenging time coming back. For him, it's a matter of sticking with it and continuing to build and stay positive and find the way to get the best out of himself."
Larmi was recalled back to Pittsburgh's taxi squad, where he finished the year.
Larmi said that he suffered three injuries over the course of the season, with the final one being a broken finger in the taxi squad's last practice of the season.
Of course the last shot of the last practise of the season got me.
— Emil Larmi (@emillarmi) May 27, 2021
Sums up my season pretty well I guess. Took almost 25 years to broke a bone for the first time.
At least I saved it though. pic.twitter.com/i9a4tgDFBq
"And what I’ve could done to prevent these? Absolutely nothing," Larmi wrote of his injuries.
It was an injury that derailed Larmi's rookie season in the Penguins organization as well.
During Larmi's third start in Wilkes-Barre in 2019-20, he started to faint in the locker room during an intermission, something he later told me he suspected was due to a concussion sustained earlier in the period. After the health scare, he was out of the lineup for three weeks. After a rocky few starts following his return, he was assigned to Wheeling in December. In total, he played just nine games for Wilkes-Barre and 11 games for Wheeling before coronavirus cut the season short.
"It wasn’t what I expected," Larmi told me of his rookie year after the season ended. "But at least there’s something to learn. It was rough. I just have to keep focusing on what’s coming. At least it’s fun to get back on the ice and practice with the NHL team. I’m still excited about the future.”
After a sophomore season that was in many ways more rough than the first, you can't fault Larmi for returning home.