Second Signing of the Day as the Roster Nears Completion
Head coach Aaron Fox has added skilled Finnish forward Joel Janatuinen to the Steelers roster ahead of the new season.
The 29 year old left winger played 183 Liiga games after spending four seasons in the NCAA with the University of North Dakota between 2015 and 2019
“Joel is coming off a stretch where he wasn’t healthy for an extended period of time and over the last 6 months has got himself healthy and in great shape” said Fox.
“The potential with him at his age and what he’s done when healthy in Liiga is what’s really exciting.
“I think he will be a dynamic winger that will add depth scoring, he plays an extremely solid two way game.
“I’m very excited to get him in and try him in a couple different lineup spots to see how is game translates at our level”.
Speaking from his home in Finland Janatuinen confirmed his excitement for the new challenge in the UK “Whilst I played in North America University, this is my first time outside Finland playing professional and it excites me.
“Niklas Nevalainen was a great help to me, we played against each other in the NCAA and became good friends, we share an agent and talk often. Nikki had so much good to say about his time in Sheffield, the club, the City and his team mates of whom so many are returning. The more he spoke the more I was interested
“The UK has always interested me, the league getting better, this was the perfect time for me to make this move and with the days counting down I’m more and more excited to get started”