Longtime Checkers defenseman Rasmus Rissanen will head overseas next season, signing a two-year deal with Finland’s Jokerit of the KHL.
A sixth-round pick by Carolina in 2009, Rissanen has spent each of his five pro season with Charlotte. The 24-year old is the second-longest tenured blue liner in franchise history and one of just three players to suit up for the Checkers in each of their six AHL seasons (he played one game in 2010-11 at the conclusion of his final junior season with Everett).
A physical defenseman in the stay-at-home mold, Rissanen combined for 49 points (9g, 40) and 357 penalty minutes over 294 games in a Charlotte sweater. He also appeared in six NHL contests with the Hurricanes, all at the tail-end of the 2014-15 campaign.
Rissanen logged career highs in assists and points during the 2015-16 campaign despite having his season cut short due to an injury that sidelined him for much of the final stretch.
Finnish native Rissanen, who signed a one-year, two-way contract with Carolina last season and was slated to become a restricted free agent, now returns to his home country to play for Jokerit, who became the first Nordic country to join the KHL last season. He becomes the first member of the 2015-16 Checkers team to depart during the offseason.
