Janne Kuokkanen

Janne Kuokkanen (born 25 May 1998) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a forward for Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Kuokkanen was drafted 43rd overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2016 NHL entry draft.

Playing career Before joining London Knights for the 2016–17 season, Kuokkanen played one game in his native Finland for Oulun Kärpät in the Finnish Liiga. He also played one game for their affiliate team Hokki in the Finnish 2nd level and 47 games for Kärpät in their U20 team. Approaching the post-season in his rookie season in North America with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and having averaged over a point-per-game offensively with 26 goals and 62 points in 60 games, Kuokkanen was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on 24 March 2017. After a second round exit in the post-season with the Knights, Kuokkanen was assigned to join the Hurricanes AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, during their first round series against the Chicago Wolves. Kuokkanen made his North American professional debut appearing in a single game with the Checkers in their first round defeat.

Kuokkanen started the 2017–18 season with the Hurricanes but after playing four games and garnering no points he was reassigned to the Checkers on 30 October 2017.

During the 2019–20 season, while leading the Charlotte Checkers in scoring with 42 points through 52 games, Kuokkanen was dealt by the Hurricanes at the NHL trade deadline, along with Fredrik Claesson and a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Sami Vatanen on 24 February 2020. Kuokkanen scored his first NHL goal on 30 January 2021, in a 4–3 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. On 9 August, Kuokkanen was re-signed to a two-year contract by the Devils.

On 13 July 2022, the Devils bought out the final year of Kuokkanen's contract. Leaving the NHL, he was later signed to a one-year contract with Swiss club, HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the National League (NL), on 27 July 2022.

On 18 April, 2023, Kuokkanen signed with the Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He led the team in points for the season.

On 3 June, 2024, Kuokkanen signed a two-year contract with the Lausanne HC of the NL alongside Malmö teammate Lauri Pajuniemi. His season was cut short after an injury that required surgery.

On 28 May, 2025, Kuokkanen left the Lausanne HC halfway through his contract, returning to the Malmö Redhawks with a four-year contract alongside teammate Lauri Pajuniemi.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2014–15 Oulun Kärpät Jr. A 35 3 12 15 16 — — — — — 2015–16 Oulun Kärpät Jr. A 47 22 31 53 53 3 0 1 1 2 2015–16 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 1 2 0 2 0 — — — — —2015–16 Hokki Mestis 1 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 2016–17 London Knights OHL 60 26 36 62 14 14 10 6 16 2 2016–17 Charlotte Checkers AHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0 2017–18 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2017–18 Charlotte Checkers AHL 60 11 29 40 16 8 3 1 4 2 2018–19 Charlotte Checkers AHL 48 12 26 38 16 — — — — — 2018–19 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 7 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2019–20 Charlotte Checkers AHL 52 12 30 42 16 — — — — — 2019–20 Binghamton Devils AHL 4 3 3 6 2 — — — — — 2019–20 New Jersey Devils NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2020–21 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 16 3 4 7 2 — — — — — 2020–21 New Jersey Devils NHL 50 8 17 25 14 — — — — — 2021–22 New Jersey Devils NHL 57 6 11 17 10 — — — — — 2022–23 HC Fribourg-Gottéron NL 42 10 21 31 12 1 0 0 0 0 2023–24 Malmö Redhawks SHL 43 18 26 44 12 — — — — — 2024–25 Lausanne HC NL 35 6 19 25 22 — — — — — 2025–26 Malmö Redhawks SHL 48 13 32 45 51 8 0 3 3 6Liiga totals 17 5 4 9 2 — — — — —NHL totals 119 14 28 42 28 — — — — —NL totals 77 16 40 56 34 1 0 0 0 0SHL totals 91 31 58 89 63 8 0 3 3 6

International

Awards and honours Award YearAHL All-Star Game 2019 Calder Cup 2019