Mäkiniemi Assigned to Phantoms
September 29, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release
Goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi with the Philadelphia Flyers
(Lehigh Valley Phantoms)
Allentown, PA - The Philadelphia Flyers have assigned goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Mäkiniemi, 25, entered Flyers training camp this season on a professional try-out. Prior to joining the team, he posted an 8-8-0 record with a 3.14 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in 18 games for the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League last season. He also appeared in three games for the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL where he was 1-2-0, 3.39 GAA, .907. He had recently signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, September 25.
The 6-foot-2, 183-pound goaltender recorded career numbers of 27-20-4, 2.77, .906 SV% in 54 AHL games for the Sharks' primary affiliate in the AHL. He made his NHL debut on Dec. 7, 2022 vs. Vancouver, coming in relief and stopped 6-of-8 shots he faced. He stopped 23-of-24 shots in his first NHL start on Dec. 9, 2022 at Anaheim to get his first NHL win.
He has also played in one preseason with the Flyers on Monday stopping 13 of 14 shots at Montreal.
Mäkiniemi was originally drafted by Carolina in the fourth round (104th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft. He was acquired by San Jose with Steven Lorentz and a conditional pick in the 2023 NHL Draft from Carolina in exchange for Brent Burns and Lane Pederson on July 13, 2022.
Before coming over to North America, the Finnish native played professional hockey in Liiga, Finland's top hockey league. He was named to the Second All-Star team in Mestis, Finland's second-tier hockey league, and awarded Mestis' Best Goaltender after the 2019-20 season.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms' Training Camp begins on Sunday, September 29.
The Phantoms play their first preseason game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Tuesday, October 1 at PPL Center.
Lehigh Valley will also host the Hershey Bears in preseason action on Saturday, October 5 before concluding the exhibition schedule on the road with a Sunday, October 6 clash at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Opening Night for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms is Saturday, October 12 against the Hartford Wolf Pack including a Rally Towel giveaway presented by Service Electric.
Images from this story
 Goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi with the Philadelphia Flyers |
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