Finnish goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi has accepted a Professional Tryout Offer with the Philadelphia Flyers for training camp coming up in a few weeks. The announcement was made Thursday evening on Twitter.
Mäkiniemi, who turned 25 this past April, was originally drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fourth round (104th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft. After playing two seasons for Ilves Tampere in the Liiga in 2019-20 and 2021, Mäkiniemi became part of a trade package that was sent to San Jose in July, 2022 in exchange for the Canes acquiring defenseman Brent Burns and Lane Pederson.
Although he never played with the Hurricanes, he played only two NHL games for San Jose in 2022-23 after signing a one-year, two-way deal on June 30, 2023. But injuries have plagued the goaltender the last few seasons. In 2021-22 the goaltender underwent surgery on his lower back which cut his season short. Meanwhile his health misfortunes continued in subsequent seasons ranging from hip surgery which abbreviated 2022-23 for him. Thinking he might have finally gotten over the health hurdles, Mäkiniemi was injured early in the 2023-24 season which kept him out for roughly a month. Then in January he dealt with a bout of mononucleosis that kept him out of the lineup until the early portion of March.
In terms of the Flyers, given his health issues and the fact he’s still only 25, it certainly doesn’t hurt that the Flyers take a look at Mäkiniemi during training camp. This is especially true considering the situation regarding Alexei Kolosov and whether or not he is still in the mix for the Flyers or Lehigh Valley in the AHL this coming season or ends up playing another season in the KHL. Worst case scenario for Mäkiniemi is that he doesn’t dazzle and gets cut before his stint with the Flyers even begins. The upside? Well, he could have his injury bug behind him and with a fresh start in Philadelphia (or in the system) he could end up making a case to be kept somewhere in the pipeline.
On the whole, it’s not an earth-shattering move by the Flyers but again it’s another roll of the dice for Briere much like the Denis Gurianov acquisition in the Wade Allison trade to Nashville last season. Very little downside, potential some upside. Here’s hoping Mäkiniemi stays relatively healthy to at least determine what he is (or isn’t) capable of.
