Palve, 27, finished inside the top-10 scorers in Finland's top professional league (Liiga) each of the past two seasons. During this past year, Palve led TPS Turku and placed tied for sixth in scoring with 51 points (16G-35A) and a plus-5 in 53 games. He tacked on four points (1G-3A) in five postseason contests. Palve played on a line with Kaapo Kakko, who is ranked by NHL Central Scouting as the highest-rated European Skater heading into the 2019 NHL Draft.
The 6-foot, 176-pound Palve split the 2017-18 campaign between HPK Hameenlinna and TPS, enjoying a breakout performance in his second full season in Liiga, the top pro league in Finland. Palve began his season with HPK before joining TPS late in the year, combining to score 50 points (14G-36A) in 55 games split between the teams, putting him seventh in Liiga in points. During the playoffs, Palve produced 12 points (4G-8A) in 11 games for TPS, the third-highest total among all league skaters.
Palve, a native of Keuruu, Finland, played the last three seasons in Liiga with TPS and HPK, scoring 123 points (35G-88A) in 165 regular-season games and 18 points (5G-13A) in 23 playoff games.
Palve graduated to Finland's top professional league following a dominating 2015-16 season with Jukurit in Finland's second-highest pro league. That year, Palve led the league in goals (32), assists (39), points (71) and shorthanded goals (3) in 43 games, helping his team to a championship. Palve was named the league's Best Forward and a First All-Star.
For more on Palve, here is a link to his prospect profile at
www.eliteprospects.com
.
