Former Montreal Canadiens winger Jesse Ylönen is reportedly considering signing a deal in the SHL this summer, per Johan Svensson of Swedish news site Expressen (subscription required). Svensson didn’t specify what club the Finnish wing could be headed to. Nonetheless, the potential for a move seems high after Ylönen spent a full season in the AHL for the first time in his four-year career in North America. His minor-league stint was split between the Syracuse Crunch and Milwaukee Admirals, sparked by a late-February trade that swapped Ylönen and fellow minor-leaguer Anthony Angello.
Ylönen was slightly less productive in the Midwest – netting 14 points in 26 games for Milwaukee, including playoffs, after totaling 25 points in 47 games with Syracuse. The full-year total of 39 points in 73 games is far below the scoring pace Ylönen managed through his first two seasons in the AHL in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He spent both seasons with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, and scored 36 points in 52 games and 32 points in 39 games respectively. That latter hot streak earned Ylönen his NHL rookie year during the 2022-23 season – and he managed a modest 16 points in 37 games to show for it. Montreal responded to positive numbers by keeping Ylönen all the lineup for the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign – but the upside bet didn’t pan out. Ylönen managed just eight points in 59 NHL games last season, and landed in the Lightning organization after Montreal declined a qualifying offer at the start of last summer.
Ylönen could be a proper match in Sweden. He grew up in Finland’s youth hockey program and played pro games in each of the country’s top two leagues. That includes totaling a combined 56 points in 127 games across three seasons in the Liiga, before he came over to North America. The SHL has certainly risen above its peers this season, but Ylönen could be well equipped for the challenge after finding, and then losing, his scoring touch in the NHL and AHL.
Other quick notes from around the league:
- Calgary Flames prospect Jaden Lipinski is headed to the University of Maine next season, per the club’s Instagram. Lipinski will be one of the very few NCAA players with pro hockey experience – after playing one game at the end of the 2023-24 season, and two games this season, in the AHL. He recorded no notable stat changes. Lipinski is still eligible to attend college because all three games were played on an amateur try-out with the Calgary Wranglers, which kept him from earning any compensation for the matchups. NCAA revokes collegiate eligibility once players accept payment, or promise of payment, from a pro sports league. Since he didn’t, Lipinski will enter the league as a junior player who played up one year, akin to Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander, who played two SHL games before joining Boston University last season. The Maine Black Bears will get a hardy addition with this news. Lipinski scored 58 points in 59 WHL games this season, and seemed to improve his ability to play physical and productive hockey. Those are the hallmarks of Maine’s style, and should create a golden stage for the Flames prospect to continue growing.
- NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly shared that the league is satisfied with how the concussion protocol has performed this season in an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Daly shared that the league has embedded due diligence into the process, even when players don’t formally enter the protocol. He shared that, with an additional layer of consideration, he feels the league has been able to properly answer any open questions about the process. Rates of concussions have risen and fallen in the NHL over time, but concerns around long-term effects of head injuries continues to ring louder. News site NPR published an op-ed on the link between lengthy hockey careers and CTE in December, sparking newfound debate over the effectiveness of the NHL’s concussion spotting.