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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed forward Joona Luoto (pronounced YOH-nuh loo-OH-toh) to a one-year, two-way National Hockey League/American Hockey League contract, General Manager and Alternate Governor Jarmo Kekalainen announced today.

Luoto, 24, has collected two penalty minutes in 16 career NHL games, all with the Winnipeg Jets during the 2019-20 season, after signing with the club as a free agent in June 2019. He added two goals and six assists for eight points to go along with 22 penalty minutes in 29 games with the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose between 2019-21.

The 6-3, 201-pound winger has registered 35-26-61 with 66 penalty minutes and a cumulative +24 plus/minus rating in 175 career regular season games with Tappara and HIFK in Finland's top professional league, Liiga. He has added 11-13-24, six penalty minutes and a +8 plus/minus rating in 48 career playoff appearances. In 2021-22, he notched 9-5-14, 12 penalty minutes and was +8 in 27 games and added 8-9-17, 2 penalty minutes and was +10 in 14 playoff outings with Tappara. He led the club to the Liiga championship and captured the Jari Karri Award as the best player in the playoffs.
A native of Tampere, Finland, he represented his country at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championships and collected 1-1-2 in six games. He was also a member of Finland's U-19 team in 2015-16.
FULL JOONA LUOTO STATISTICS

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