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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Tampa Bay Lightning have placed forward Niko Huuhtanen on unconditional waivers for the purposes of contract termination.
Huuhtanen appeared in five games this season with the Syracuse Crunch, where he recorded three assists, 10 penalty minutes, and a plus-1 rating. He also played in one ECHL game with the Orlando Solar Bears, where he had zero points and a minus-2 rating.
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Huuhtanen spent all of this past season in the AHL with the Crunch, where he recorded eight goals, 12 assists, 20 points, 47 penalty minutes, and a plus-13 rating. This was after he had a strong season in the Finnish Liiga with Mikkelin Jukurit in 2023-24, posting 19 goals, 27 assists, 46 points, 46 penalty minutes, and a plus-2 rating in 52 games.
If Huuhtanen goes though unconditional waivers unclaimed, the 6-foot-3 winger will then be able to have his contract terminated by the Lightning. This would then make him an unrestricted free agent (UFA), where he would get the chance to sign elsewhere.
Huuhtanen was selected by the Lightning with the 224th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.