Former Vancouver Canucks Top Prospect Finds New Home After Having NHL Contract Terminated
Photo credit: The Province
One week after having his National Hockey League contract terminated, a former Vancouver Canucks prospect has found a new home for the 2025-26 season.
Teams across North America and Europe are continuing to prepare their rosters for the 2025-26 season and for some leagues, they'll be starting their respective training camps in a matter of weeks.
Last Tuesday, former Vancouver Canucks defensive prospect Joni Jurmo was placed on unconditional waivers by the Calgary Flames in order to terminate his contract and it looks like the Finnish blueliner has already found a new team.
Former Vancouver Canucks prospect finds new home for the 2025-26 season
In a press release on their team website on Tuesday, Kiekko-Espoo of Finland's top division, Liiga, announced that they've agreed to terms on a one-year contract with Joni Jurmo.
Note: the quotes in this story are translated from Finnish.
"Defender Joni Jurmo will join Kiekko-Espoo on a one-year contract." the club said in their press release.
Jurmo spoke with the club after putting pen to paper, saying he's very excited to get started with him hometown team, who he appeared in ten games with during the 2020-21 season when they were in the Finnish second division, Mestis.
He shared that Kiekko-Espoo was the first club he thought about signing with after having his NHL contract terminated by the Calgary Flames.
"I'm really excited to go to Espoo! When I started thinking about where to go next season, Kiekko-Espoo was the first place I thought of. "Hirso" is familiar to me from years ago when I visited here to play for Mesti and I felt really good about that visit and the games went well. I'm really looking forward to putting on the crown shirt again" Jurmo said.
He added, "I followed my hometown's first Liiga season with a close eye last season and when I visited Finland in December, my girlfriend and I went to watch the Boxing Day celebration game. There was a great atmosphere and a good buzz in the hall. The action looked very good overall."
He added, "I followed my hometown's first Liiga season with a close eye last season and when I visited Finland in December, my girlfriend and I went to watch the Boxing Day celebration game. There was a great atmosphere and a good buzz in the hall. The action looked very good overall."
The Espoo, Finland native was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round, 82nd overall, back in 2020 and after three-and-a-half years in the organization, he was traded to the Calgary Flames in a deal that saw Patrik Allvin land centerman Elias Lindholm.
A couple of months after the trade, Jurmo signed his entry-level contract with the Flames and made the trip over the Atlantic for the 2024-25 campaign, suiting up in 17 games for the AHL's Calgary Wranglers and 12 games for the ECHL's Rapid City Rush.
If Jurmo is able to stay injury-free and have a strong showing with Kiekko-Espoo on both sides of the puck this coming season, it wouldn't be a shock if he's able to land a new contract with an NHL club next summer.
Source: Kiekko-Espoo
JONI JURMO IN THE CROWN SHIRT
JONI JURMO IN THE CROWN SHIRT
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JUILLET 22 | 1177 ANSWERS Former Vancouver Canucks Top Prospect Finds New Home After Having NHL Contract Terminated Do you think Joni Jurmo will ever return to North America? | ||
| Yes | 151 | 12.8 % |
| No | 1026 | 87.2 % |
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