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NHL Award-Winning Goalie Signs Contract in Overseas League

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated May 14, 2025 2:39 PM ET

Antti Raanta is one of the most underrated goalies in the NHL of the past decade, now his career in the league appears to be over as he's signed a new deal overseas to head back to the club his entire hockey career started with 18 years ago.

The NHL has seen some amazing goalies come through the league over the years, and as a result, many of them have gone underrated by the big names that have dominated the NHL during the last decade.

One of those names is Antti Raanta, who won the Jennings Trophy back in 2022 by allowing the lowest goals total against by posting an impressive 2.23 GAA in that time, posting a career mark of 2.48 over 275 games played for Chicago, New York, Arizona and Carolina.

However, the 36-year old left the NHL last season to play in Switzerland, and now he'll be returning home, with the Finnish star set to join Lukko, the team his professional career started with back in 2007/08 in the top league in Finland.

The team announced the deal on social media to plenty of excitement, and while he may not be the player he was during a very successful stint in the NHL, it's safe to say that having a name like that come home will be a major boost to not only Lukko, but to SM-Illiga as well.

While he was never the biggest name in the NHL or even a consistent Vezina Trophy threat, there were few goaltenders in the league more consistent than Raanta, and with this move, his NHL career is likely over as he looks to continue the success he had back in his home country.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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