Anaheim Ducks Sign Defenseman Olli Juolevi To One-Year Contract
Jul 27, 2022The Anaheim Ducks announced today that the National Hockey League (NHL) club has signed defenseman Olli Juolevi to a one-year, two-way contract through the 2022-23 NHL season.
Juolevi, 24 (5/5/98), has appeared in 41 career NHL games with Detroit, Florida and Vancouver, recording 2-1=3 points with six penalty minutes (PIM). The 6-2, 182-pound defenseman combined for 18 contests with Detroit and Florida in 2021-22. He also earned one assist (0-1=1) in three American Hockey League (AHL) games with the Charlotte Checkers, Florida’s primary development affiliate.
Originally selected by Vancouver in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft, Juolevi made his NHL debut for the Canucks in Game 4 of the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Juolevi has also recorded 3-36=39 points and 28 PIM in 66 career AHL games with Charlotte (2021-22) and Utica (2018-20), including a single-season career high 2-23=25 points in 45 games with Utica in 2019-20.
The Helsinki, Finland, native spent the 2017-18 campaign with TPS of the Finnish Liiga, compiling 7-12=19 points in 38 games. In 2014-15, Juolevi earned the U-20 SM-liiga (Finland’s junior league) Best Defenseman and Rookie of the Year, and was named to the First All-Star Team after collecting 6-26=32 points in 44 games with Jokerit’s U-20 club.
He also spent two seasons with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) from 2015-17, earning 19-65=84 points with a +64 rating and 52 PIM in 115 games. He helped London to 2016 Ontario Hockey League and Memorial Cup championships. He was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team after earning 3-11=14 points in 18 postseason games, including seven assists in four Memorial Cup appearances (0-7=7).
Juolevi represented Finland at three straight World Junior Championships (2016, 2017 and 2018), serving as captain in 2017. He helped Finland to a gold medal at the 2016 championship, leading all tournament defensemen with nine assists in seven games while being named to the tournament All-Star Team.