CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Emil Jarventie was just happy to have his equipment this time around.
This summer was the second development camp for Jarventie, the Finnish winger drafted in the seventh round of last summer's draft ... but the first development camp where he really got to participate. Jarventie was one of two Finnish prospects whose bags were lost by British Airways on the way over for last year's camp. Most of the gear is easily replaceable by the Penguins ... except for the skates. The Penguins tried outfitting the prospects with skates in their size they had on hand, but none were quite right. The bags showed up on the night before the last day of camp, so Jarventie only got one on-ice session in before heading back to Finland.
"It's pretty fun to have gear on Day 1," Jarventie told me with a laugh at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex of his development camp experience. "That was pretty bad last year, just watching when everybody else was on the ice. So, it's nice to have them here now."
JOE ZAK / PENGUINS
Emil Jarventie in the Penguins' development camp this month in Cranberry, Pa.
When the Penguins drafted Jarventie, he already had some professional experience in Finland. He was playing in the Liiga club Ilves' system, and played 21 games with the Ilves' U20 junior affiliate. But he also played 19 games with the club KOOVEE in the second-tier league, scoring four goals and three assists, and was loaned to a lesser Liiga club in SaiPa, scoring one goal.
This year, Jarventie was actually in one place for most of the season and actually had time to settle in. He was back in KOOVEE in the second league, and started producing more with four goals and 12 assists in 41 games. He earned a four-game stint in the Liiga with Ilves, scoring one goal.
"It was a peaceful season for me," Jarventie told me of his year. "The start of the season was a little bit hard for me, but after that, it was going better and getting better."
Jarventie said that the hard parts were mostly mental. He had to learn how to leave the bad moments and bad games behind him and focus on the games ahead of him. He stayed in contact with the Penguins development staff over the course of the season, and they provided feedback on his play and advice on what he could do better.
Next season, Jarventie will be with a new club -- he signed a one-year contract with Tappara, another Liiga team. Tappara's manager Antti Tuomenoksa said in a release when signing Jarventie that despite Jarventie still being young enough to play in the U20 team, "he is certainly ready to do everything to fight for a place in the Liiga."
"I just needed a new start and to calm down a little bit from those last seasons," Jarventie told me of his decision. "There is a really good place for me to get the next step going forward as a person and as a player. It's really nice."
I asked Jarventie what he thinks he'll need to do to remain in the Liiga full-time.
"Give the best of me every day, every game," he said. "Not nights where I'm really bad, and some nights I'm super good. Just keep the balance there. Train hard and get going."
Jarventie said he thinks his skating, puck skills and offense are good enough to stick at the top league. But what he needs most is size and strength. He's on the smaller side, at 5 foot 10, and last summer he was only listed at 168 pounds. He said that after a year of working on that strength, he's around 180 pounds. Still work to do, but a good start.
Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos echoed the sentiment that it's important for Jarventie to "put in some work in the weight room," but noted that they think "he's got a nice skillset."
"He's got some speed where he just he darts out of spaces and can attack areas and take pucks to the net," Kostopoulos said. "He's got to find some consistency in it. I think there's things he can do off the ice to keep building his body, to be able to do play that way more consistently, because his agility and his speed are two real assets for him. The more we can use him out there, the better. He's got the quick hands, a nice shot. He's got real offensive ability. It'll be important for him to have a big year."
JOE ZAK / PENGUINS
Emil Jarventie in the Penguins' development camp this month in Cranberry, Pa.
With Jarventie's contract in Finland only being for the next year, his future beyond next season is still up in the air. The Penguins hold his exclusive signing rights until 2027, so there's no rush in bringing him over. He's not ruling out a move to North America for 2025-26 if next season goes well for him, but he's not planning on it yet either. He's just taking things day-by-day for now.
"I mean, it doesn't matter for me how long it's going to take," Jarventie said. "One or two years in Finland, what's the best for me? It's just trying to get better every day. And if someday if I can move here, that's going to be really nice. That's my goal in one or two years. So let's keep things going."
