Vesalainen, 19, won a Finnish Liiga championship with Karpat last season after recording eight points (4G, 4A) in 18 playoff games. The product of Helsinki, Finland played 49 regular season games between Karpat and HPK and finished sixth in the league with 22 goals, adding 21 assists for 43 points. Vesalainen also competed in his second straight World Juniors and had six points (2G, 4A) in five games for the sixth-place Finland squad.
The Jets selected Vesalainen with their first round selection (24th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft after he split the 2016-17 campaign between Frolunda in Sweden's top league and HPK in the Finnish Liiga. Vesalainen's draft stock took a jump following his MVP performance at the 2017 World Under-18 Championships where he led the tournament in both goals (6) and points (13).
Kristian Vesalainen
Wing
Born Jun 1 1999 -- Helsinki, Finland
Height 6.03 -- Weight 207 -- Shoots L
