Aleksi Saarela

Career Statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	PTS	PIM		GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
2012-13	Lukko Rauma	SM-Liiga		3	1	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-
2013-14	Lukko Rauma	SM-Liiga		12	0	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-
2014-15	Assat Pori	SM-Liiga		51	6	6	12	18		2	0	1	1	0
2015-16	Assat Pori	SM-Liiga		51	20	13	33	14		-	-	-	-	-
2016-17	Lukko Rauma	SM-Liiga		49	15	13	28	10		-	-	-	-	-
	Charlotte	AHL		9	6	4	10	2		5	0	0	0	2
2017-18	Charlotte	AHL		69	25	18	43	8		8	2	1	3	2
2018-19	Charlotte	AHL		69	30	24	54	12		17	7	8	15	4
	Carolina	NHL		-	-	-	-	-		1	0	0	0	0
2019-20	Rockford	AHL		5	0	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-
	Springfield	AHL		43	12	19	31	12		-	-	-	-	-
	Florida	NHL		9	2	2	4	0		1	0	0	0	0
AHL TOTALS				195	73	66	139	34		30	9	9	18	8
NHL TOTALS				9	2	2	4	0		2	0	0	0	0
PRO TOTALS				370	117	103	220	78		34	9	10	19	8

BIOGRAPHY

Signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Carolina on 6/13/16 ... Acquired by the Florida Panthers from Chicago in exchange for Ian McCoshen on 10/22/19 ... Calder Cup champion with the Checkers in 2019 ... Began the 2020-21 season with Luuko Rauma in his native Finland.

Personal

Favorite player growing up: Zack Stortini … Favorite video game: FIFA … Favorite TV show: Suits … Favorite restaurant in Charlotte: Morton’s … Favorite vacation spot: Finland … Favorite emoji: ? … Last thing you watched on Netflix: Suits

2019-20

Split his third full professional season in North America between the Chicago and Florida organizations ... Tied for fifth among Springfield skaters with 32 points ... Began the season in AHL Rockford, playing five games before Florida acquired him in exchange for Ian McCoshen and assigned him to Springfield on 10/22 ... Scored his first goal of the season as part of a multi-point effort (1g, 1a) vs. HER (11/1) ... Had three points (1g, 2a) vs. LAV (11/30) ... Recalled to Florida on 12/6 and made his NHL regular-season debut vs. CBJ on 12/7 ... Returned to Springfield on 12/11 after playing three games with the Panthers ... Scored two goals, including the OT winner, at PRO (1/19) ... Scored three points (1g, 2a) in his final AHL game of the season at CHA (2/16) ... Recalled to Florida on 2/18 and spent the remainder of the season in the NHL ... Scored his first NHL goal at ANA (2/19) ... In his final game of the regular season, had the primary assist on both Panthers goals in a 2-1 win at STL (3/9) ... Played in Game 2 of the Panthers' play-in series vs. NYI (8/4).

2018-19

Set AHL career highs in goals (30), assists (24), points (54) and plus/minus (+18) ... Led the Checkers in goals and ranked second in points ... Tied for eighth in the AHL in goals ... Tied for the AHL lead with nine game-winning goals ... In the playoffs, tied for third on the Checkers with seven goals en route to the Calder Cup championship ... Had two-goals, including the OT winner, at WBS (11/17) ... Scored his second overtime goal of the season vs. UTI (12/16) ... Had two assists vs. BRI (12/22) to extend his point streak to eight games (2g, 7a) ... Scored the game's only goal vs. BRI (1/15) ... Had three points (1g, 2a) and was plus-4 vs. HFD (1/26) ... Scored his 30th goal of the season in overtime at CLE (4/11) ... Recalled to Carolina and made his NHL debut in Game 5 of the Hurricanes' first-round series at WSH (4/20) ... Scored a hat trick in Game 4 to complete the Checkers' second-round sweep at HER (5/8). Finished that series with six goals ... Scored the game-winning goal with 7:07 remaining in regulation to give the Checkers a 3-1 lead in their Calder Cup Final series at CHI (6/6).

2017-18

Completed his first full professional season in North America with the Checkers … Posted the second-highest goal total by a rookie in Checkers history with 25, trailing only Warren Foegele’s mark of 28 also set this season … Ranked third among AHL rookies and third on the Checkers in goals … Tied for first among AHL rookies and ranked second on the Checkers with 11 power-play goals … Lit the lamp in Charlotte’s season opener at HFD (10/6) … Scored the game-winning goal on the power play with 5:33 remaining in regulation vs. SPR (12/3) … Recorded his first hat trick as a North American pro vs. HER (12/21), giving him five points (4g, 1a) in his last two games … Recalled by Carolina for the first time on 1/3 and then reassigned to Charlotte on 1/5 without making his NHL debut … Had goals and multiple points in three consecutive games (4g, 2a) from 2/3-2/7 … Recorded three points (2g, 1a) and a career-best, plus-4 rating at SYR (3/31) … Finished the regular season with 13 points (5g, 8a) in his last 10 games, including a pair of three-point outings … With the Checkers trailing 2-0 in the third period of Game 1, scored the Checkers’ first goal of the playoffs to start a comeback win in overtime vs. WBS (4/20).

2016-17

Spent the majority of the season with Lukko Rauma in Finland's SM-Liiga, leading the team with 15 goals and ranking fourth with 28 points ... Joined the Checkers on 3/27 following the conclusion of Lukko Rauma's season ... Scored a goal in his North American debut at CLE (3/28) … Had two assists and was plus-2 in his second game of the season at CLE (3/30) … Scored two goals and was plus-3 in his third game with the Checkers at GR (3/31) … Named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending 4/2, his first week in the league, after posting six points (4g, 2a) and a plus-5 rating in four games … Extended his goal streak to three games with the game winner in the third period vs. SA (4/4), giving him seven points (5g, 2a) over a five-game point streak to start his North American career … Recorded a season-high three points (1g, 2a) vs. TEX (4/8).

2015-16

Set career highs in goals, assists and points … Led Assat Pori and tied for fourth in the league in goals.

2014-15

Completed his first full season in Finland’s top league … Ranked 10th on the team in goals as a 17-year-old … Made his postseason debut and recorded one assist in two games.

2013-14

Split his season between Lukko’s junior team and the top club … Ranked seventh on the junior team in scoring despite only playing 17 games.

2012-13

Made his SM-Liiga debut at 15 years old.

International

Ranked fourth on the team in goals and helped lead Finland to a gold medal at the 2016 World Junior Championship … Ranked third on the team in scoring and helped lead Finland to a silver medal at the 2015 U-18 World Juniors.