SUNRISE, Fla. - Markus Nutivaara is looking forward to a fresh start.
A player well known to Bill Zito, the Panthers general manager went out and acquired the 26-year-old defenseman from the Blue Jackets on the eve of the NHL's free agency period, giving Nutivaara a great new opportunity to shine after being blocked by a deep blue line in Columbus.
Nutivaara Looking Forward to Fresh Start with Panthers
In exchange for his services, the Panthers sent forward Cliff Pu to the Blue Jackets.
"For Billy, he wanted me there," Nutivaara said. "I give him a lot of respect for that and thanks for him. I've only known one organization… I was kind of at that point in my career where I needed a fresh start. I needed something new, some big changes. It's really good for me."
When asked about Nutivaara's upside, Zito, who spent seven seasons as an assistant general manager with the Blue Jackets before being hired by Florida in September, raved about his skill with the puck, describing him as a "very, very good skater" and "a puck-moving defenseman."
Originally selected by Columbus in the seventh round (189th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, the 6-foot-1, 187-pound blueliner has posted 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) in 244 career games.
"His dynamic is his skating and his puck-moving ability," said Zito, who had a front-row seat for Nutivaara's first four NHL seasons. "He can kill penalties. He can do a little bit of power play… It'll be interesting to see what he does with the opportunity, to see if he elevates his game."
Prior to heading to North America, Nutivaara spent two seasons fine-tuning his game in Liiga, the top men's ice hockey league in Finland. From 2014-16, he racked up 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 127 games with powerhouse Karpat, capturing a league championship in 2015.
At the 2018 IIHF World Championship, he led Finland's defensemen in scoring with nine points (three goals, six assists).
"He was one of the better defensemen in [Liiga] and a national team defenseman," Zito said. "He's a wonderful human being, great teammate. I'm excited to see what will happen with him."
Since arriving to the NHL, Nutivaara believes he's been making good progress each season.
"The first year was hard with all the language and stuff like that, and getting used to playing the right style," Nutivaara said. "I think for now I'm really enjoying the game and having fun on the ice. It comes from the spine. You don't think about how the game goes, you just do your work."
While his career had been on a steady upward trajectory since his NHL debut, Nutivaara did suffer a slight setback this past season. Hampered by injuries and struggling to find minutes, he tallied nine points (three goals, six assists) while averaging 15:55 of ice time over 37 contests.
That 15:55 was almost a full two minutes less than the 17:41 he skated per game in 2018-19.
"It's hard to watch the game outside of the rink," Nutivaara said when asked about being bitten by the injury bug.
"I feel like you've just got to get over it, start with the basics and get your confidence up as fast as you can. I think that's the thing. "I feel [the prime of my career] coming. I think I'm in a good place right now. I have a lot of confidence from the last season. Of course there was too many injuries last season. I hope those are gone and I can play the whole season and keep working."
A left-shot defenseman, Nutivaara will have a great opportunity to get back on track and potentially break out with the Panthers. And while he has the potential to compete in all situations, his play at 5-on-5 throughout his career is what should get fans most excited.
In each of his first four NHL seasons, he's never had a negative goal differential at 5-on-5.
"It's a really good opportunity, for sure," Nutivaara said. "I just want to give my best. I think I can be a good help for the team. I'm really excited to go there and make the team and work hard."
Making his transition to South Florida a bit easier, Nutivaara will be reunited with former Blue Jackets teammate Alex Wennberg, who signed with the Panthers as a free agent on Oct. 9. Additionally, Nutivaara has also been chatting with Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov a bit.
Nutivaara also played with Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in Columbus from 2016-19.
"That's going to help a lot," Nutivaara said of having a few familiar faces in the locker room. "Me and Wennberg, we're pretty close. It's awesome to have a good friend right away in there."
As he prepares for his first season in a new setting, Nutivaara is currently training with several other NHL players in his hometown of Oulu, Finland. As of right now, the group includes the likes of Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho, Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne and many more.
With his offseason training already underway, he hopes to hit the ground running with the Cats.
"I think there's a lot of skill on the team," said Nutivaara, who has two years left on his current contract. "I really like that. They like to play with the puck and make plays. I think I'm looking forward to that more than anything."
