Utah Hockey Club announced today the signing of defenseman Juuso Valimaki to a two-year contract. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“We are looking forward to having Juuso return to our team for a third season,” said Bill Armstrong, general manager of Utah Hockey Club. “He is a big, strong, two-way defenseman who has been a great addition to our defensive group over the past two seasons.”
The 25-year-old Valimaki recorded 2-15-17 and 12 penalty minutes (PIM) in 68 games with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24. He had a team-best plus-12 and also totaled 90 blocked shots which ranked third on the Coyotes.
The 6-foot-2, 205 pound blueliner set career-highs in goals (4), assists (30) and led Coyotes blueliners with 34 points during the 2022-23 campaign.
A native of Tampere, Finland, Valimaki has registered 9-58-67 with 119 PIM in 228 career NHL games with the Coyotes and Calgary Flames.
Valimaki was originally drafted by the Flames in the first round (16th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft.
