20210403, Turku, Gatorade Center. SM-Liiga, regular season. HC TPS vs. Lock. Pictured is Josh Kestner TPS. Jaakko Stenroos/AOP All Over Press Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
In TPS, in the second season, the winner of the entire Liiga points exchange Josh Kestner return back to Finland. The new club this time is Rauma Lukko.
The club’s press release states that the contract is for one year.
– We received elite level confirmation. He’s a top player. Kestner has one of the most devastating shots in the league for sure, Luko’s athletic director Kalle Sahlstedt says in the announcement.
Last season, the American forward tried his wings in the KHL after a cannon season in TPS. In Admiral Vladivostok, the results were 5+10 for 37 matches.
– I had a few options on the table when the contract negotiations took place. Everything I already knew and what I had heard about Luko convinced me. I also like that the Finnish rinks are bigger than the KHL rinks, so as a player I now have a little more time to make decisions with the puck than last season, says Kestner.
Kestner scored 49 points in TPS in the regular season and ten points in the team’s silver spring. Before that, he had dominated the ECHL with 73 points in 58 games.
Platt was acquired by JYP
JYP Jyväskylä also made a notable acquisition, because after a long KHL tour Geoff Platt returns to the SM league.
The striker, who has Canadian and Belarusian passports, is familiar to Finns from Ilves and Jokerei. He has played in six different KHL teams. Last season, he represented Salavat Yulayev Ufa, where he scored 10 points.
He has also played in the four World Cups in the shirt of Belarus.