Juuso Riikola's time in the Penguins' organization has come to a close.
Riikola, who was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, signed a one-year deal with IK Oskarshamn of the Swedish Hockey League on Wednesday.
"My four years in North America was a good time of my life but I felt it was time for change and the next chapter of my career," Riikola said in a Swedish release from IK Oskarshamn. "I've heard good things about the team and the city. I think my style of play will work in the team."
Riikola, 28, spent four years in the Penguins organization after being signed as a free agent out of Finland in 2018. He played in a total of 80 NHL games with the Penguins, scoring three goals and 10 assists.
Riikola spent much of his first two seasons in the NHL with Pittsburgh, playing 37 games in the NHL in his rookie season and five in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and then 36 NHL games in the shortened 2019-20 season.
After playing two NHL games early in the 2020-21 season, Riikola sustained an injury Jan. 19 that kept him on injured reserve until March 9. When finally healthy, he spent the rest of the year on the taxi squad.
Riikola was assigned to Wilkes-Barre for the start of this 2021-22 season. Aside from a five-game stint in Pittsburgh at the end of October, Riikola spent the majority of the year in Wilkes-Barre, where he led the Penguins' defensemen in scoring with one goal and 34 assists in 53 games. His 34 assists ranked No. 7 in the AHL among defensemen.
"He's a heck of a hockey player," WIlkes-Barre coach J.D. Forrest told me of Riikola this season. "He is really an NHL hockey player."
Throughout Riikola's tenure in Pittsburgh, when he was spending time as a healthy scratch, dealing with injury, or even being asked to play forward for a few games, he always kept a positive attitude about his situation. That continued through this past season in Wilkes-Barre, even though he was surely playing well enough to earn a call up at times.
"I can't say enough about his attitude with us," Forrest said. "You know, he could take it a few different ways being here as long as he has, but he's been nothing but a good teammate and a good guy in the locker room. He's also good communicating on the bench with the coaches with the other players. So he's an asset that we're happy to have."
