Aleksi Saarela at eliteprospects.com

Aleksi Saarela

#87 Lukko / Liiga - 26/27

Date of Birth

Jan 07, 1997

Position

Age

Height

5'10" / 179 cm

Place of Birth

Helsinki, FIN

Weight

201 lbs / 91 kg

Nation

Finland

Shoots

Youth Team

LaJy

Contract

27/28

Drafted

2015 round 3 #89 overall by New York Rangers

Agency

PREMIUM

A dangerous offensive forward that creates energy through scoring chances. Possesses good hockey sense as well as good hands and stickhandling ability. A smooth and speedy skater who has a lot of jump in his step. Not very large in stature; however, his diminutive size doesn't deter his scoring prowess, and that is what he will have to rely upon to be successful. (Curtis Joe, EP 2014)

Family relations
Father: Pasi Saarela
Uncle: Ilkka Saarela
Brother: Antti Saarela

Use/Embed statistics

Aleksi Saarela Statistics

S	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM	+/-		POST	GP	G	A	TP	PIM	+/-
2010-11	Lukko U16	U16 SM-sarja Q	1*	1*	0*	1*	0*	-*	\|
	Lukko U16	U16 SM-sarja	1*	1*	1*	2*	0*	-*	\|
2011-12	Lukko U16 “A”	U16 SM-sarja Q	8*	11*	17*	28*	4*	-*	\|
	Lukko U16 “A”	U16 SM-sarja	28*	33*	39*	72*	26*	-*	\|	Playoffs	9	14	15	29	4	-
	Finland U16 (all)	International-Jr	3*	1*	1*	2*	2*	-*	\|
2012-13	Lukko U18 “A”	U18 SM-sarja	16*	17*	19*	36*	14*	-*	\|
	Lukko U20	U20 SM-liiga	22*	8*	10*	18*	6*	-1*	\|	Playoffs	10	2	6	8	2	6
	Lukko	SM-liiga	3*	1*	1*	2*	0*	-2*	\|
	Finland U17	WHC-17	5*	2*	2*	4*	2*	-*	\|
	Finland U17 (all)	International-Jr	4*	1*	1*	2*	2*	7*	\|
2013-14	Lukko U20	U20 SM-liiga	17*	6*	16*	22*	8*	0*	\|
	Lukko	Liiga	12*	0*	2*	2*	2*	-4*	\|
	Finland U18	WJC-18	2*	1*	0*	1*	0*	-2*	\|
	Finland U18 (all)	International-Jr	2*	1*	0*	1*	0*	-2*	\|
2014-15	Ässät	Liiga	51*	6*	6*	12*	18*	-7*	\|	Playoffs	2	0	0	0	0	0
	Finland U18	WJC-18	7*	3*	5*	8*	6*	6*	\|
	Finland U18 (all)	International-Jr	8*	3*	6*	9*	6*	6*	\|
	Finland U20 (all)	International-Jr	7*	0*	0*	0*	2*	-*	\|
2015-16	Ässät U20	U20 SM-liiga	2*	0*	2*	2*	0*	0*	\|	Playoffs	3	1	2	3	0	1
	Ässät	Liiga	51*	20*	13*	33*	14*	4*	\|
	Finland U20	WJC-20	7*	4*	3*	7*	4*	2*	\|
	Finland U20 (all)	International-Jr	15*	5*	7*	12*	2*	8*	\|
	Finland (all)	International	5*	1*	1*	2*	0*	1*	\|
2016-17	Lukko	Liiga	49*	15*	13*	28*	10*	-7*	\|
	Charlotte Checkers	AHL	9*	6*	4*	10*	2*	7*	\|	Playoffs	5	0	0	0	2	-2
2017-18	Charlotte Checkers	AHL	69*	25*	18*	43*	8*	4*	\|	Playoffs	8	2	1	3	2	1
2018-19	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL	0*	0*	0*	0*	0*	0*	\|	Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0	0
	Charlotte Checkers	AHL	69*	30*	24*	54*	12*	18*	\|	Playoffs	17	7	8	15	4	10
2019-20	Rockford IceHogs	AHL	5*	0*	1*	1*	0*	2*	\|
	Florida Panthers	NHL	9*	2*	2*	4*	0*	2*	\|	Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0	0
	Springfield Thunderbirds	AHL	43*	12*	19*	31*	12*	-2*	\|
2020-21	Lukko “A”	Liiga	43*	23*	14*	37*	22*	10*	\|	Playoffs	11	4	4	8	4	4
	Finland (all)	International	3*	1*	0*	1*	2*	-2*	\|
2021-22	SCL Tigers	NL	31*	10*	12*	22*	6*	-10*	\|
2022-23	SCL Tigers	NL	48*	24*	15*	39*	10*	-5*	\|	Relegation	6	2	4	6	0	2
2023-24	SCL Tigers	NL	50*	18*	23*	41*	8*	-13*	\|
	Finland (all)	International	3*	1*	0*	1*	0*	1*	\|
2024-25	SCL Tigers	NL	49*	18*	11*	29*	2*	-5*	\|	Playoffs	8	1	3	4	0	-2
2025-26	TPS	Liiga	53*	20*	15*	35*	8*	-17*	\|
2026-27	Lukko	Liiga	-*	-*	-*	-*	-*	-*	\|

Aleksi Saarela Tournament Statistics

S	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM	+/-
2015-16	Finland	EHT	2*	0*	0*	0*	0*	0*	\|
2016-17	Lukko	Champions HL	1*	1*	0*	1*	0*	-1*	\|
2020-21	Finland	EHT	3*	1*	0*	1*	2*	-2*	\|
2022-23	HC Davos	Spengler Cup	4*	0*	1*	1*	0*	-3*	\|
2023-24	Finland	EHT	3*	1*	0*	1*	0*	1*	\|

Aleksi Saarela Career Totals

League	Years	GP	G	A	TP	PPG	PIM	+/-	\|	Years	GP	G	A	TP	PPG	PIM	+/-
AHL	4	195*	73*	66*	139*	0.71*	34*	29*	\|	3	30	9 *	9 *	18 *	0.60 *	8 *	9 *
Champions HL	1	1*	1*	0*	1*	1.00*	0*	-1*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
EHT	3	8*	2*	0*	2*	0.25*	2*	-1*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
International	3	11*	3*	1*	4*	0.36*	2*	0*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
International-Jr	5	39*	11*	15*	26*	0.67*	14*	19*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
Liiga (SM-liiga)	8	262*	85*	64*	149*	0.57*	74*	-23*	\|	2	13	4 *	4 *	8 *	0.62 *	4 *	4 *
NHL	2	9*	2*	2*	4*	0.44*	0*	2*	\|	2	2	0 *	0 *	0 *	0.00 *	0 *	0 *
NL	4	178*	70*	61*	131*	0.74*	26*	-33*	\|	2	14	3 *	7 *	10 *	0.71 *	0 *	0 *
Spengler Cup	1	4*	0*	1*	1*	0.25*	0*	-3*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
U16 SM-sarja	2	29*	34*	40*	74*	2.55*	26*	-*	\|	1	9	14 *	15 *	29 *	3.22 *	4 *	- *
U16 SM-sarja Q	2	9*	12*	17*	29*	3.22*	4*	-*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
U18 SM-sarja	1	16*	17*	19*	36*	2.25*	14*	-*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
U20 SM-liiga (U20 SM-sarja)	3	41*	14*	28*	42*	1.02*	14*	-1*	\|	2	13	3 *	8 *	11 *	0.85 *	2 *	7 *
WHC-17	1	5*	2*	2*	4*	0.80*	2*	-*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
WJC-18	2	9*	4*	5*	9*	1.00*	6*	4*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*
WJC-20	1	7*	4*	3*	7*	1.00*	4*	2*	\|	0		*	*	*	*	*	*

* Some data is missing to provide a correct summary.

Aleksi Saarela Career Highlights

Season

Awards by season

2010-2011
- U16 Pohjola Camp Roster (Lukko)
2011-2012
- U16 Huippu-Pohjola Camp Roster (Lukko)
- U16 Pohjola Camp All-Star Team (Huippu-Pohjola Camp)
- U16 Pohjola Camp MVP (Huippu-Pohjola Camp)
- U16 SM-sarja All-Star Team
- U16 SM-sarja Best Forward (Sami Kapanen Award)
- U16 SM-sarja Best Player (Teppo Numminen Award)
- U16 SM-sarja Bronze Medal
- U16 SM-sarja Most Goals (Keijo Kuusela Award) (33)
- U16 SM-sarja Most Points (Reijo Leppänen Award) (72)
- U16 SM-sarja Playoffs Most Assists (15)
- U16 SM-sarja Playoffs Most Goals (14)
- U16 SM-sarja Playoffs Most Points (29)
2012-2013
- U20 SM-liiga Bronze Medal
2014-2015
- U18 WJC Silver Medal
2015-2016
- U20 WJC Gold Medal
2016-2017
- AHL Player of the Week (Apr. 2)
2018-2019
- AHL Calder Cup Champion
2020-2021
- Liiga Champion

Transactions

DATE	STATUS	FROM	TO
04/11/2026
04/11/2026	Confirmed	TPS	Lukko
06/30/2025
06/30/2025	Confirmed	SCL Tigers	TPS
10/12/2024
10/12/2024	Extension	SCL Tigers	SCL Tigers
10/06/2023
10/06/2023	Extension	SCL Tigers	SCL Tigers
12/05/2022
12/05/2022	Loan	SCL Tigers	HC Davos
10/27/2021
10/27/2021	Extension	SCL Tigers	SCL Tigers
08/06/2021
08/06/2021	Confirmed	Lukko	SCL Tigers
08/22/2020
08/22/2020	Confirmed	Springfield Thunderbirds	Lukko
10/23/2019
10/23/2019	Confirmed	Chicago Blackhawks	Florida Panthers
06/24/2019
06/24/2019	Confirmed	Carolina Hurricanes	Chicago Blackhawks
06/13/2016
06/13/2016	Confirmed	Lukko	Carolina Hurricanes
04/20/2016
04/20/2016	Confirmed	Ässät	Lukko
02/28/2016
02/28/2016	Confirmed	New York Rangers	Carolina Hurricanes
10/16/2014
10/16/2014	Extension	Ässät	Ässät
04/29/2014
04/29/2014	Confirmed	Lukko	Ässät
05/04/2013
05/04/2013	Extension	Lukko	Lukko

Player Biography and Trivia

Drafted 2014, 1 #41 overall by Jokerit in the KHL Draft

2015 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #137 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

2015 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #31 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (EU Skaters

Cult/Star player for Lukko

Career transactions
- 2014-10-16 • Signed to a one-year contract extension with Ässät
- 2014-04-29 • Signed to a one-year contract with Ässät
- 2013-05-04 • Signed to a one-year contract extension with Lukko
- 2012-2013 • Contracted to Lukko

Career assingments
- 2013-2014 • Assigned to Lukko U20

Other memorable dates
- 2016-01-05 • Won World Junior Championship gold medal
- 2015-12-23 • Selected to U20 World Junior Championship roster
- 2015-04-16 • Selected to U18 World Junior Championship roster
- 2014-04-16 • Selected to U18 World Junior Championship roster
- 2013-02-19 • Made Liiga debut against Tappara and scored first Liiga goal and assist at the same game. (At the age 16y 01m 12d, he became second youngest goal scorer ever in Liiga)
- 2012-12-10 • Selected to U17 World Hockey Challenge roster