The initial wave of free agent signings has passed — it turned out to be more of a tidal wave — but teams are still looking to add depth.
One name garnering lots of attention is Finnish centre Petri Kontiola of Chelyabinsk Traktor in the Kontinental Hockey League.
The right-handed shot was selected 196th overall by Chicago in the 2004 NHL Draft and registered five assists in 12 games with the Blackhawks during the 2007-08 season. Kontiola spent two seasons in the American Hockey League, registering 121 points in 127 games with the Rockford IceHogs. The Blackhawks traded him in 2009 to the Anaheim Ducks, who immediately assigned him to their AHL affiliate Iowa Chops, where he recorded nine points in 20 games before leaving for the KHL in the off-season.
Kontiola has spent the last three years with Chelyabinsk after a two-year stint playing for Magnitogorsk Metallurg with former NHL star Sergei Fedorov.
The Seinajoki, Finland native led Chelyabinsk in goals (15) and assists (22) in 53 games last season and was teammates with former NHLers Andrei Kostitsyn, Ian White, Stanislav Chistov and Jan Bulis. He also played with highly touted prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov before the young Russian joined the Washington Capitals in March.
In addition to his KHL experience, the 29-year-old has a strong international resume. Kontiola centred the third line for the bronze medal-winning Team Finland at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, primarily playing alongside Juhamatti Aaltonen and Arizona Coyotes winger Lauri Korpikoski; he also won a bronze medal at the 2004 world juniors and silvers at the 2007 and 2014 world championships.
There are established centres like Mike Ribeira, Derek Roy, David Legwand, Olli Jokinen and Mikhail Grabovski — all left-handed shots — still available on the open market. However, should a team decide to go a different route, Kontiola could be a viable option.
