Blues Sign Aleksanteri Kaskimaki To Entry-Level Deal

11:49 a.m.: Kaskimäki’s deal carries a cap hit of $870K, PuckPedia reports. It will be paid out via a base salary of $775K, a signing bonus of $95K, a potential games played bonus of $80K, and a minors salary of $82.5K each season.

The Blues announced Tuesday that they’ve signed forward Aleksanteri Kaskimäki to a three-year entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Kaskimäki, 20, was the 73rd overall selection in the 2022 draft by St. Louis and has spent the two years since developing in his native Finland. All of the 6-foot, 192-lb center’s professional experience has come with the Liiga’s HIFK, scoring 14 goals and 26 points in 93 games dating back to his debut in the 2021-22 campaign.

2023-24 was a solid campaign for Kaskimäki, who managed to hit the 10-goal mark in 48 games despite being limited to bottom-six minutes, receiving customarily low usage for developing prospects in European pro leagues. The Espoo native is good at using his speed to carry the puck through the neutral zone and has an accurate shot, something the Blues hope leads to good possession play and decent depth scoring in a bottom-six role down the line.

Kaskimäki was on Finland’s roster for the past two World Junior Championships. He had two goals and two assists in seven games at the 2024 event after going pointless in five games the year prior, although the Finns failed to medal in back-to-back years for the first time since 2017 and 2018.

He’s still likely a ways away from cracking an NHL roster. Since he was under contract with HIFK next season, he could very well spend 2024-25 on loan to his Finnish club. His ELC will run out after the 2026-27 campaign, and he’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry.