After entering camp on a professional tryout (PTO) and earning a spot with the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, the team announced they signed forward Joel Kiviranta to a one-year deal.
Kiviranta, 27, has two goals and four assists for six points in 10 games so far this season with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. Now that he’s officially signed with the Avalanche, Kiviranta can be called up and play with the NHL club.
The undrafted winger spent five seasons in the Finnish Elite League with Sport Vaasa, scoring a career-high 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points in 59 games during the 2017-18 season.
He signed with the Dallas Stars before the 2019-20 season, scoring 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 48 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars before spending the next three seasons as a full-time member with the NHL club.
Across three seasons in Dallas between 2020-21 and 2022-23, Kiviranta scored 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points in 152 games. Not usually a high-production player, Kiviranta had one goal and four assists for five points in 15 post-season games for the Stars last spring, helping them reach the Western Conference Finals before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.
He did not re-sign with the Stars, going unsigned through most of the summer. He agreed to a PTO with the Avalanche last August.
He was released from his PTO before the season started, but remained in the organization by signing a one-year AHL contract with the Eagles on Oct. 11.
Kiviranta won a gold medal with Finland at the 2019 World Championships, where he scored two goals and a assist for three points in nine games.
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