Jussi Jokinen

Jussi Petteri Jokinen (born April 1, 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. After playing in his native Finland with Oulun Kärpät of the Liiga he was drafted by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Dallas Stars in 2001 in the sixth round, 192nd overall, and spent his first three NHL seasons with the team. Jokinen has also played in the NHL for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks.

Jokinen is of no relation to former NHL player Olli Jokinen, but has a younger brother, Juho, who also plays hockey. During his NHL career, Jokinen was widely considered a shootout and faceoff specialist.

Playing career

Dallas Stars Jokinen was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the sixth round, 192nd overall, at the 2001 NHL entry draft. He spent four seasons before his NHL debut playing for Oulun Kärpät of the SM-liiga, the top Finnish league.

In his rookie year in 2005–06, Jokinen gained a great reputation as a top shootout specialist in the NHL. Until being stopped by Vesa Toskala, he was a remarkable nine-for-nine in shootouts before his first unsuccessful attempt.

Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes At the NHL trade deadline, on February 26, 2008, Jokinen was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning (along with Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern and a 2009 fourth-round draft pick) in exchange for Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist. Jokinen finished with 16 goals and 42 points.

On February 4, 2009, Jokinen was placed on waivers by the Lightning and later, on February 7, 2009, was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Wade Brookbank, Josef Melichar and a 2009 fourth-round draft pick. During the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, on April 21, he scored the latest regulation game-winning goal in NHL playoff history, with 0.2 seconds remaining in the third period, as the Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils 4–3 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals.

On June 29, 2009, the Hurricanes signed Jokinen to a two-year, $3.4 million contract ($1.5 million in 2009–10 and $1.9 million in 2010–11). As of November 19, 2009, Jokinen had scored a total of 25 goals in 46 shootout attempts, with an impressive 54.3% success rate. Eight of those shootout goals were game-winners.

Jokinen re-signed with his former Finnish club Kärpät during the 2012–13 NHL lockout and committed himself to remain with the club until the resumption of the NHL season in January 2013.

Pittsburgh Penguins On March 26, 2013, Jokinen was placed on waivers by Hurricanes. On April 3, 2013, Jokinen was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional sixth- or seventh-round pick in 2013. In his first game with the Penguins, Jokinen scored Pittsburgh's lone goal in regulation and tallied the only shootout goal for the team in a 2–1 victory over the New York Rangers. During the 2013–14 season, on October 8, 2013, Jokinen scored his first hat-trick with the Penguins in a 5–2 win over his former team, the Carolina Hurricanes. Jokinen enjoyed his most productive season since 2010, totaling 21 goals and 57 points in 81 games with the Penguins, playing alongside Evgeni Malkin for most of the season.

Florida Panthers On July 1, 2014, as an unrestricted free agent, Jokinen signed a four-year, $16 million contract with the Florida Panthers. During his second season with the club, Jokinen scored 18 goals and 60 points, the second-best offensive output of his career. During six playoff games, Jokinen contributed one goal and three assists.

Final NHL season On June 30, 2017, following the 2016–17 season and with one-year remaining on his contract, Jokinen was bought-out by the Panthers. On July 7, 2017, as a free agent, Jokinen signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers. In the 2017–18 season, he struggled to find his role with Edmonton, adding just 1 assist in 14 games. On November 14, 2017, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Mike Cammalleri. Jokinen recorded 1 goal and 4 assists in 18 games for the club.

On January 16, 2018, Jokinen was placed on waivers by the Kings, and was then claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 17. On February 26, 2018, Jokinen and Tyler Motte were traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Thomas Vanek. As a result of this trade, Jokinen became the fourth player in NHL history, behind Dennis O'Brien, Dave McLlwain and Mark Arcobello, to play for four different NHL teams in a single season. He also joins the exclusive club of scoring at least a point in each of the four different hockey clubs he played for in one NHL season, along with O'Brien and Arcobello.

Return to Europe Having completed his NHL career, Jokinen returned to Europe in signing with EHC Kloten of the Swiss League. He registered 12 points through just 7 games before returning to his original Finnish club, Oulun Kärpät.

After three further seasons in the Liiga, Jokinen announced his retirement on May 18, 2021, ending a career spanning 20 seasons.

International play

Jokinen has played for the Finnish national team in multiple tournaments, including the 2006 and 2014 Winter Olympics, winning a silver and bronze medal.

In 2016, Jokinen and teammate Aleksander Barkov Jr. were selected to represent Team Finland at the 2016 IIHF World Championship. They won silver after a 2–0 loss to Team Canada.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1999–2000 Kärpät FIN U18 15 6 25 31 14 6 2 3 5 0 1999–2000 Kärpät Jr. A 28 4 7 11 14 — — — — — 2000–01 Kärpät FIN U18 1 2 1 3 0 — — — — — 2000–01 Kärpät Jr. A 48 18 31 49 69 6 2 1 3 0 2001–02 Kärpät Jr. A 2 4 1 5 0 1 1 1 2 0 2001–02 Kärpät SM-l 54 10 6 16 38 4 1 0 1 0 2002–03 Kärpät SM-l 51 14 23 37 10 15 2 1 3 33 2003–04 Kärpät SM-l 55 15 23 38 20 15 3 4 7 6 2004–05 Kärpät SM-l 56 23 24 47 24 12 3 4 7 2 2005–06 Dallas Stars NHL 81 17 38 55 30 5 2 1 3 0 2006–07 Dallas Stars NHL 82 14 34 48 18 4 0 1 1 0 2007–08 Dallas Stars NHL 52 14 14 28 14 — — — — — 2007–08 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 20 2 12 14 4 — — — — — 2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 46 6 10 16 16 — — — — — 2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 25 1 10 11 12 18 7 4 11 2 2009–10 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 81 30 35 65 36 — — — — — 2010–11 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 70 19 33 52 24 — — — — — 2011–12 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 79 12 34 46 54 — — — — — 2012–13 Kärpät SM-l 21 7 14 21 10 — — — — — 2012–13 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 33 6 5 11 18 — — — — — 2012–13 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 10 7 4 11 6 8 0 3 3 4 2013–14 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 21 36 57 18 13 7 3 10 10 2014–15 Florida Panthers NHL 81 8 36 44 34 — — — — — 2015–16 Florida Panthers NHL 81 18 42 60 42 6 1 3 4 4 2016–17 Florida Panthers NHL 69 11 17 28 39 — — — — — 2017–18 Edmonton Oilers NHL 14 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2017–18 Los Angeles Kings NHL 18 1 4 5 4 — — — — — 2017–18 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 14 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 2017–18 Vancouver Canucks NHL 14 4 6 10 2 — — — — — 2018–19 EHC Kloten SL 7 2 10 12 8 — — — — — 2018–19 Kärpät Liiga 14 6 14 20 4 16 2 7 9 20 2019–20 Kärpät Liiga 47 9 25 34 43 — — — — — 2020–21 Kärpät Liiga 51 9 17 26 14 5 2 1 3 2 Liiga totals 349 93 146 239 163 67 13 17 30 63 NHL totals 951 191 372 563 377 54 17 15 32 20

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2000 Finland WHC17 9th 3 1 3 4 4 2001 Finland WJC18 6 2 0 2 2 2002 Finland WJC 7 2 6 8 2 2003 Finland WJC 7 6 2 8 2 2005 Finland WC 7th 7 0 1 1 2 2006 Finland OG 8 1 3 4 2 2006 Finland WC 9 2 6 8 2 2008 Finland WC 9 1 3 4 4 2010 Finland WC 6th 7 2 1 3 20 2012 Finland WC 4th 10 5 4 9 8 2014 Finland OG 6 2 3 5 0 2016 Finland WC 10 3 7 10 2 2016 Finland WCH 8th 3 0 1 1 2 Junior totals 23 11 11 22 10 Senior totals 77 19 37 56 42