PROSPECT WATCH: Talvitie, the Mystery Man

Binghamton Devils forward Aarne Talvitie has been the captain of a World Junior championship team, player of the year in his country's top junior league and just finished a solid college career at Penn State.
Those accomplishments aside, if you were paying particular attention to the later rounds of the 2017 NHL Draft, Talvitie carries a certain air of mystery about him. And speaking of mystery, the area code of his cell phone rings through from a Chicagoland number, despite him merely passing through there when he first arrived in North America.
When it was pointed out to him that some of his background was tough to pin down, requiring more than a cursory internet search, he was accommodating.
"I can explain it all in a few, quick sentences," he said.

Devils brass and now his new Binghamton teammates know his story. Heck, punch "Aarne" into an iPhone keypad and it will autocorrect to "warning."
There really is no good reason to not know more about the 22-year-old Finnish forward.
"He looks pretty good out there," said Binghamton center Nate Schnarr, who has gotten hot since Talvitie has joined the B-Devils. He and Schnarr have played mostly on a forward line together during that time.
Talvitie arrived with the B-Devils with just a single day of preparation, making his debut against the Wilkes-Barre Penguins about three weeks ago. He has since been a regular presence up front, chipping in with two assists in six games.
Binghamton head coach Mark Dennehy had high praise for Talvitie's presence on a forward line that includes Schnarr and Fabian Zetterlund.
"They have been playing fast, direct hockey and they play north," said the coach, using the hockey euphemism that describes keeping opponents on their heels.
Why Penn State, when most Europeans generally stay at home before turning pro, or go play in the Canadian Hockey League?
"The whole experience was unreal, it's a great hockey school," he said of Penn State.
Half-way through his freshman year, and about 18 months after the Devils took him in the sixth round (160th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, Talvitie was one of Finland's top producers (7GP-4G-3A) at the 2019 World Junior in Vancouver and Victoria. As the winning captain, he was presented the championship trophy after Finland beat the U.S. 3-2 in the gold medal game.
Unfortunately, Talvitie missed most of the final with a serious right knee injury that ended his season.
"It took me a while to get back on my feet again," he said of his recovery.
Talvitie didn't cite that injury as any reason for his numbers flatlining a bit at Penn State. He had 16 points (5G-11A) in his first 17 games before the injury. He finished his final two seasons with 32 points (13G-19A) in 52 games (both seasons were pandemic-affected). During the 2017-18 season, soon after his selection by the Devils and immediately prior to reporting to "Hockey Valley," he was awarded the Teemu Selanne Award as Finland's the top U20 player playing for his hometown Espoo Blues.
The Nittany Lions have been a full-fledged, Division-I hockey school for less than a decade. Talvitie is the 10th player from that program to sign an NHL contract and was the first Nittany Lion to win a World Junior gold medal.
"We are proud that he is a Penn Stater and look forward to seeing all his success with the Devils," Nittany Lions head coach Guy Gadowsky said in a release when Talvitie signed his NHL contract last month.
The NHL deal is for two years and kicks in next season, 2021-22. For now, he's playing on an American Hockey League contract.
With his late arrival and truncated schedule, the grind of pro hockey likely won't require adjusting to until next season when the world - fingers crossed - returns to normal. Talvitie says he's confident that the adjustment from college will continue as planned, the increased schedule and intensity next season notwithstanding.
Talvitie's life has been dominated by hockey and school for much of the past 16 months - he's looking forward to some time off, seeing family and playing some golf and tennis back home.
Family includes father, Tuomas, and older brother, Otso. The Talvitie family lost mother, Tuija, last year. Tuija Talvitie was just 60 years old when she died, but had lived a remarkable life, rising to become executive director of the Crisis Management Institute, the renowned Finnish body started by that country's former President, Martti Ahtisaari.
"She was amazing and all accomplishments were really something," he said of his Mom in a follow-up text.