The Hurricanes inked a pair of prospects Monday, as Finnish forwards Sebastian Aho and Aleksi Saarela each signed three-year, entry-level deals.
Aho, who Hurricanes General Manager Ron Francis acknowledged as “one of the top prospects in hockey”, is making the jump to North America after leading his Finnish team in scoring as an 18-year-old with 45 points in 45 games.
A second-round pick by Carolina in 2015, Aho ranked fourth in Liiga, Finland’s top professional league, in goals and tied for third in scoring during the playoffs with 15 points in 14 contests. The forward also helped lead his country to a gold medal at the 2016 World Junior Championship, ranking second in the tournament in scoring with 14 points in seven games.
Saarela, who joined the organization in February from the New York Rangers in exchange for Eric Staal, spent last season in the same league as Aho. The 19-year-old tied for fourth among Liiga goal scorers with 20 tallies on the year and was the second-youngest of the seven skaters to reach the 20-goal mark.
Described as a “talented, offensive-minded player” by Francis, Saarela was also a part of the gold medal-winning Finnish team at the 2016 World Junior Championship, recording seven points in seven games.
Coming from Europe, both Aho and Saarela are eligible to join the Checkers next season as teenagers should they not jump straight to the NHL or return to Finland, though Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters has said he would “be shocked if [Aho] can’t come in and make our hockey team”.
