Aleksi Saarela

Aleksi Saarela (born on January 7, 1997 in Helsinki) is a Finnish professional ice hockey center/left winger. He is currently playing on loan with Lukko of the Liiga while under contract as a prospect to the Florida Panthers of the NHL. He was originally selected 89th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.

Club career
Saarela made his senior debut playing with Lukko of the SM-liiga during the 2012–13 SM-liiga season. Next season played Saarela also for Lukko of the Liiga. In the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, Saarela played for Ässät of the Liiga. In the 2015–16 season, Saarela led Porin Ässät with 20 goals and finished third in overal scoring with 33 points in 51 games. On February 28, 2016, the rights to Saarela, along with a 2016 second-round draft pick and a 2017 second-round draft pick, were traded from the New York Rangers to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Eric Staal.

On 20 April 2016, he signed a one-year contract to return to his original club, Lukko, on a one-year contract. Under two months later, on June 13, 2016, Saarela was then signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. In the 2016-17 season, Saarela played 49 games for Lukko and 9 games in regular season plus 5 games in play-offs for Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.

Saarela spent whole 2017-18 season playing for the Checkers. On 3 January 2018, Saarela was recalled by the Carolina Hurricanes from the Charlotte Checkers prior to a game with the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, it was short lived as he was sent back down days later without playing a game.

In 2018-19 season, Saarela played 69 games in regular season and 17 games in play-offs for the Checkers. He also made his NHL debut during game five of the Hurricanes' first round playoff series against the Washington Capitals.

On June 24, 2019, Saarela was traded by the Hurricanes, along with Calvin de Haan, to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Gustav Forsling and Anton Forsberg.

Saarela participated in the Blackhawks 2019 training camp, before he was reassigned to begin the 2019–20 season in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs. Unable to crack Chicago's roster, Saarela requested a trade and after just 5 games with the IceHogs Saarela was dealt by the Blackhawks to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Ian McCoshen on October 23, 2019. He was directly assigned to report to the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. Saarela played 43 games for the Thunderbirds and 9 games in regular season and 1 play-off game for the Panthers.

On August 22, 2020, following the Panthers' elimination from the 2020 Stanley Cup play-offs, Saarela returned to original club, Lukko of the Liiga, on loan until the commencement of the delayed 2020–21 North American season.

International career
Saarela played for Finland at the 2013 World U17 Hockey Challenge, 2014 and 2015 World U18 Championship s and at the 2016 World Junior Championship.