Ex-Oilers defenseman Markus Niemeläinen is headed back to Europe, signing a one-year deal today with Germany’s Eisbären Berlin.
The 26-year-old was a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer after the two-year, $1.53MM deal he inked with Edmonton in 2022 expired. The Oilers buried Niemeläinen, a 2016 third-round pick, with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors for all of last season despite his deal carrying a one-way structure.
A stay-at-home defender, the 6’6″, 190-lb Niemeläinen struggled to make much of an impact after arriving in North America in 2021. He did get an extended look in the NHL, making 43 appearances for the Oilers across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns, but he recorded just one assist with a -2 rating, 28 shots on goal, and 143 hits while averaging 11:30 per game.
While he was involved physically, it didn’t translate into a positive defensive impact. The Oilers controlled 48.1% of shot attempts and 47.7% of expected goals with Niemeläinen on the ice at even strength in his NHL minutes, subpar numbers given his average-difficulty usage on an otherwise strong possession team.
Niemeläinen also made 120 appearances for Bakersfield in parts of four seasons stateside in the Edmonton organization, where he had seven goals and 16 assists for 19 points in 26 games with a +10 rating. The Finnish defender now lands in Germany for the first time. He does have somewhat of a résumé in the European pros, winning a Liiga championship with HPK in 2019.