Konsta Helenius has signed an NHL rookie contract with the Buffalo Sabres.
Konsta Helenius has put his name to the three-year rookie contract offered by the NHL club Buffalo Sabers on Monday, according to Urheilu.
Helenius was drafted by the Sabers in the 1st round as the 14th pick in this summer’s draft.
CEO of an NHL club Kevyn Adams says Helenius was among the top 10 young players in Buffalo’s papers at the summer draft.
The Sabers boss expects that the Finnish talent will possibly be ready for the NHL bowls even in a short time frame.
– We see Helenius as a winning center forward who will help us win even more matches, Adams analyzed on his club’s website.
Helenius, who dazzled in Jukurei last season, collected 36 (14+22) points in the 51 regular season games he played.
The center, who turned 18 in May, played the fourth most efficient SM league season among the under-18s. They have only been able to do better Alexander Barkov (48 points), Mikael Granlund (40) and Kaapo Kako (38), all of whom are NHL players.
Helenius was Jukurie’s second best scorer also in the playoffs (6 shots 2+4=6/+2). At the end of the season, he represented Leijon in the Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship in four matches with 0+1.