Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen is returning home to Finland.
A restricted free agent after this season, Hirvonen has signed a one-year deal with Kärpät of the Finnish Elite League. The 24-year-old scored 10 goals and 11 assists in 59 games with the Toronto Marlies this season.
He also tallied one assist in one playoff game with AHL Toronto, during their first-round series against the Cleveland Monsters.
Hirvonen, the Maple Leafs' second-round (59th overall) pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, began his professional career in North America last season. The beginning, however, wasn't easy after the forward suffered a concussion during Toronto's development camp in July 2023.
A few weeks later, he lost his father, Timo, whom he was very close with, to cancer.
Then, in his second-ever AHL game, Hirvonen took a high stick to the eye, resulting in a career-threatening eye injury. All of this occurred over four months, with Hirvonen returning to game action with the Marlies in late January.
"I just have to say I'm very proud of how he handled his dad [passing away] and his eye, and everything. It's been unbelievable to see that he's back now and it's been great," Friend, teammate, and fellow countryman, Topi Niemela told The Hockey News in April 2024.
"[I learned] how he stays positive still, even he's having very hard times, and I can't even imagine how hard he had when he came here [after his dad's passing]. How he's positive every day, even, s*** happens and a lot of bad things."
Hirvonen finished that season with 13 points — seven goals and six assists — in 37 games.
If Toronto chooses to qualify Hirvonen later this month, they'll hold his negotiation rights for another year. It remains to be seen whether the Maple Leafs will do that given their shift in development under GM Brad Treliving.
Each of Toronto's last 11 draft selections under Treliving (from 2023 and 2024) are players at or above six feet tall. A skilled and feisty forward, Hirvonen's small frame likely doesn't fit the mould of what the Maple Leafs are looking for in a prospect.
He returns to Liiga where he spent four seasons before joining the Marlies in 2023.
Toronto has two other Finnish restricted free agents in Niemela and Mikko Kokkonen. Earlier this season, a story surfaced saying Niemela was reportedly returning to Europe next year. That was shot down by his agent, Mika Rautakallio, who told The Athletic's Joshua Kloke that the defenseman is "100 percent committed to playing in North America."
Niemela had a down year with the Marlies, only scoring 22 points in 61 games compared to his 39-point campaign in his debut season in North America. The Marlies also shifted the 23-year-old off the top power play unit for William Villeneuve, also an RFA, amidst a strong season.
Kokkonen played 50 games with the Marlies this year, after he earned recognition from former Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe during training camp of the 2023-24 season.
Like Niemela and Hirvonen, the 24-year-old is on the smaller side (in terms of height) and could be on the outside looking in with the Marlies, especially if Toronto adds more depth defensemen in the offseason.
Even looking up to the NHL squad, there are seven or eight defensemen, if you include Marshall Rifai, ahead of Kokkonen for a full-time role with the Maple Leafs. His AHL experience, however, could lend well to the Marlies, with newcomers like Noah Chadwick and John Prokop potentially playing in the AHL next season.
Only time will tell whether the two other Finns will return to Europe, but you have to wonder if they do, given the limited opportunity ahead of them in the Maple Leafs organization.
