The Calgary Flames locked up more of their young future on Sunday afternoon. They moved to sign Finnish prospect Joni Jurmo to a 2-year entry-level deal. The 6’5, 210-pound smooth skating left shoot defencemen came over in a trade from the Vancouver Canucks in a package for Elias Lindholm. Pat Steinberg, Radio host for Sportsnet the Fan 960 in Calgary was the first to report the news.
Joni Jurmo was drafted in 2020 in the 3rd round, 82nd overall by the Vancouver Canucks. After a couple of years developing over in the Finnish Liiga Jurmo started to figure out the defensive part of his game. He has always been a good skater, especially for someone his size.
The knock was always his play in his end and his hockey IQ. Both things have improved vastly, and he also helped win a silver medal for the Finland national team at the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship.
Prospect Joni Jurmo to a 2-Year Entry-Level Deal
The deal is a 2-year entry-level contract worth 885,000k Annual Average Value. He will join the Calgary Wranglers, the Flames AHL affiliate for the remainder of the season and could fly out as soon as Tuesday. I spoke with Joni about his new contract Sunday afternoon, or evening for him. “Yeah, I’m super excited for this opportunity as it has been my dream for as long as I can remember!” the 21 year old told me.
This season Joni Jurmo had 1 goal and 4 assists in 46 games. He spent the first 28 games with Ilves Tampere before moving on to KooKoo Kouvola for the final 18 games. Craig Conroy spoke about what the player brings to the team on Sunday, “At 21 years old, he provides us with another young defence prospect with size, mobility, who skates and defends well.”
Calgary Flames Start to Look Ahead to The Future
The Flames spent the season sending out UFA’s for capital, both in picks and prospects. If Craig Conroy continues down this road the future could look very bright very quickly. They will miss the playoffs again this season but if they can make the right moves I could see them fighting again next year for one of those final wildcard spots.
It is doubtful that Jurmo will get into the lineup for the Wranglers until at least Saturday when they host San Jose Barracudas. The Wranglers still have 6 games left in April if it takes him a bit longer to get acclimated. It will be interesting to see how he can bring his unique skill set over to North America. For all the latest NHL news and notes make sure to check out the Area 51 Sports Network as we get closer to playoffs.