Kristian Näkyvä

Kristian Näkyvä (born 18 November 1990) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for Timrå IK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

Playing career Undrafted, Näkyvä played as a youth within the Espoo Blues organization. He made his professional debut in the 2008–09 with the Blues with 2 assists in 6 games. After three seasons with the Blues, Näkyvä signed with rivals JYP on 18 May 2011 in search of regular playing time at the Liiga level.

Näkyvä established himself within the blueline of JYP, and after three seasons in which he won a Championship in 2012 and found a place in the international squad, he opted to leave his native Finland and signed a three-year contract with Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League on 9 June 2014. In his debut season in Sweden in the 2014–15 season, Näkyvä was an instant success in co-leading the league in goals from the blueline with 10 and finishing 5th in scoring with 29 points.

Näkyvä's performances gained NHL interest, and after just one season with Luleå, he cut short his contract with the club to sign a one-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators on 24 April 2015. In the 2015–16 season, Näkyvä was assigned to Nashville's American Hockey League affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. Unable to earn a recall to the Predators, Näkyvä appeared in 69 games for 10 points.

On 18 May 2016, Näkyvä opted to leave the Predators organization after one season to return to Sweden, signing a two-year contract with Linköping HC of the SHL.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2008–09 Espoo Blues SM-l 6 0 2 2 2 — — — — — 2009–10 Espoo Blues SM-l 7 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2009–10 TuTo Mestis 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2010–11 Espoo Blues SM-l 16 0 1 1 8 — — — — — 2010–11 Jukurit Mestis 16 0 7 7 8 — — — — — 2010–11 Kiekko-Vantaa Mestis 5 0 2 2 6 — — — — — 2011–12 JYP SM-l 55 7 16 23 20 13 0 5 5 4 2011–12 JYP-Akatemia Mestis 2 2 1 3 2 — — — — — 2012–13 JYP SM-l 59 6 22 28 52 11 1 3 4 6 2013–14 JYP Liiga 57 7 19 26 40 6 1 2 3 2 2014–15 Luleå HF SHL 55 10 19 29 42 9 1 3 4 6 2015–16 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 69 1 9 10 32 3 0 0 0 2 2016–17 Linköpings HC SHL 50 8 15 23 38 6 0 1 1 2 2017–18 Linköpings HC SHL 52 2 24 26 32 7 4 1 5 6 2018–19 Örebro HK SHL 51 6 21 27 38 2 0 0 0 0 2019–20 Örebro HK SHL 39 8 12 20 34 — — — — — 2020–21 Örebro HK SHL 39 3 13 16 49 9 2 1 3 4 2021–22 Örebro HK SHL 36 6 12 18 18 8 0 2 2 6 2022–23 Örebro HK SHL 52 7 29 36 53 13 1 5 6 6 2023–24 HC Davos NL 49 6 22 28 18 2 1 0 1 25 Liiga totals 200 20 60 80 126 30 2 10 12 12 SHL totals 374 50 145 195 304 54 8 13 21 30

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2010 Finland WJC 5th 6 0 1 1 2 Junior totals 6 0 1 1 2