Henrik Borgstrom
and
Aleksi Saarela
will remain in Finland for the rest of the SM-liiga season before a decision is made if either will return to North America, Panthers general manager Bill Zito said.
Borgstrom, the No. 23 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, signed with HIFK in October and doesn't have an NHL contract this season.
"We had a lot of discussions about what might be the best for [Borgstrom] to jumpstart his career, get a restart and a positive focus moving forward," Zito said. "We had even discussed possibly having play the whole year there, maybe even the World Championships, build up and have hockey be a real positive experience for him and come in on his terms and make a return."
Borgstrom played in four games for the Panthers last season before he was assigned to Springfield of the American Hockey League.
"He could [join the team later this season], we're not closing the door on anything," Zito said. "… when the time is right to come back let's do that."
Saarela, who is a restricted free agent, signed with Luuko in August.
"We had talked to him a little bit about coming back (to North America) and it didn't really get a lot of traction," Zito said. "He was having a good year (18 points in 19 games) so that kind of ended that discussion." -- Dan Rosen