Confirmed with Link: Rangers Sign Lauri Pajuniemi to ELC [2Y/925K AAV]

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No surprise here. Last summer Pajuniemi told me that he and the Rangers had a plan for him to play in Liiga for 1 more year. Happy he got his ELC.

2 year deal, which takes him to RFA with salary arbitration in 2023. He will start in Hartford as he has indicated he has no desire to play in Liiga anymore.

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No surprise here. Last summer Pajuniemi told me that he and the Rangers had a plan for him to play in Liiga for 1 more year. Happy he got his ELC.

2 year deal, which takes him to RFA with salary arbitration in 2023. He will start in Hartford as he has indicated he has no desire to play in Liiga anymore.

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I thought you were pretty confident the whole year that he would play one more season in Finland?
 
I'll be interested to see how his game translates. The shot is money, but he'll have to work harder to use it now. As you saw with guys like Lindqvist and Meskanen recently, guys that thrive off finding time and space to rip one timers can face a difficult adjustment. I'm also not thrilled with the general quality of Liiga over the past few years.

That said, he has improved his overall game, so he shouldn't be completely worthless in a bottom six/limited or no PP capacity.
 
I thought you were pretty confident the whole year that he would play one more season in Finland?

No. What I said was that I expected him to sign his contract, and then either start in Hartford OR get loaned back to a team in Liiga. Until he openly said he has no desire to play in Liiga anymore, last week.
 
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I'll be interested to see how his game translates. The shot is money, but he'll have to work harder to use it now. As you saw with guys like Lindqvist and Meskanen recently, guys that thrive off finding time and space to rip one timers can face a difficult adjustment. I'm also not thrilled with the general quality of Liiga over the past few years.

That said, he has improved his overall game, so he shouldn't be completely worthless in a bottom six/limited or no PP capacity.

He has worked on his game a lot the last 2 years. Kakko leaving was the catalyst he needed. He was put on the top line and leads all players in goals in Liiga since then, despite missing 20+ games. If he can adjust to the faster game in the AHL, and be decent defensively, he can be a valuable asset for us. Olofsson is the desired outcome here. In terms of former Rangers, I always saw a lot of 2013-14 Benoit Pouliot in his game. Let's hope he can live up to that.
 
He has worked on his game a lot the last 2 years. Kakko leaving was the catalyst he needed. He was put on the top line and leads all players in goals in Liiga since then, despite missing 20+ games. If he can adjust to the faster game in the AHL, and be decent defensively, he can be a valuable asset for us. Olofsson is the desired outcome here. In terms of former Rangers, I always saw a lot of 2013-14 Benoit Pouliot in his game. Let's hope he can live up to that.
I know his situation. I think Olofsson is a pipe dream. Pouliot-like production is far more realistic.

He's going to have a hard time breaking through. As we all know, we're stacked at wing. He's not going to displace Panarin, Kakko, Kravtsov, Lafreniere, Buchnevich (while he's here), or Kreider (while he's still good). He'll have to beat out Barron. And so on. I think he'll need the whole year in Hartford and then some good fortune to find a spot where he can play to his strengths down the road.
 
Really excited for this guy. Very underrated I think. For guys with only one elite asset, I’ll take a guy with an elite shot, and he seems to have one.

If only there was a way to voodoo magic his shot into Kakko’s body. :naughty:
 
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No. What I said was that I expected him to sign his contract, and then either start in Hartford OR get loaned back to a team in Liiga. Until he openly said he has no desire to play in Liiga anymore, last week.
Ah ok. Seemed like over the year you were very much pushing he was going to play another year there.
 
Nice getting these guys under contract.

If they can get 2 players out of Paju/Edstrom/Vierling/Berrard/Barron/Hughes/Ciccolini, tremendous.
 
He has worked on his game a lot the last 2 years. Kakko leaving was the catalyst he needed. He was put on the top line and leads all players in goals in Liiga since then, despite missing 20+ games. If he can adjust to the faster game in the AHL, and be decent defensively, he can be a valuable asset for us. Olofsson is the desired outcome here. In terms of former Rangers, I always saw a lot of 2013-14 Benoit Pouliot in his game. Let's hope he can live up to that.


I dunno Pouliot has some bite in his game, does Lauri even have an edge, will be drop the gloves cause Pouliot had that with the speed and skill he had. always wanted him back. Pouliot was also 4th overall pick. i don't see any similarities at all. I was thinking of Josef Balej as a comparison
 
I dunno Pouliot has some bite in his game, does Lauri even have an edge, will be drop the gloves cause Pouliot had that with the speed and skill he had. always wanted him back. Pouliot was also 4th overall pick. i don't see any similarities at all. I was thinking of Josef Balej as a comparison

And Yakupov was a 1st overall pick.....

Pouliot's single season career high is 36 points, with the Rangers. Him being a 4th overall pick really should not be brought up in a comparison, at all.

Stylistically, Pajuniemi has a lot of things in common with Pouliot. I just hope Pajuniemi can work on his defense a bit more. That first year in Hartford will be very telling of where he ends up.
 

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