Lauri Korpikoski

Lauri Korpikoski (born 28 July 1986) is a Finnish professional ice hockey left winger who is currently playing for HC TPS of the Liiga. Korpikoski has previously played in the NHL for the Arizona Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers, the organization that drafted him in the first round, 19th overall, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Lauri Korpikoski
Born	(1986-07-28) 28 July 1986 Turku, Finland
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shoots	Left
Liiga team Former teams	HC TPS New York Rangers Arizona Coyotes Edmonton Oilers Dallas Stars Columbus Blue Jackets ZSC Lions
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	19th overall, 2004 New York Rangers
Playing career	2004–present

Playing career

Korpikoski was drafted in the first round, 19th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. He originally played for TPS' junior team in the SM-liiga before moving up to the main team for the 2004–05 season. He then played two seasons of professional hockey in Finland before joining the Rangers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, after TPS' 2005–06 season; he played five regular season games and 11 playoff games for Hartford for the team's 2005–06 season.

In 2006–07, Korpikoski had 11 goals and 38 points for the Wolf Pack, while in 2007–08, in his second year with the team, he bested his previous year's totals, scoring 23 goals and having 50 points, also scoring two points in five Calder Cup playoff games. Following Hartford's first round exit from the playoffs, Korpikoski was named to the Rangers' reserves squad for the team's 2008 Stanley Cup playoff run. On 4 May, he dressed for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and 2:03 into the game's third period, he scored his first career NHL goal on just his second-ever shot. The goal brought the Rangers to within one goal of tying (which they did), although the team eventually lost in overtime, eliminating them from the playoffs.

After scoring points in every pre-season game in which he played, Korpikoski survived cuts to make the Rangers' 23-man roster for the start of the 2008–09 season, the only rookie to make the team. He later scored his first career regular season NHL goal against Kevin Weekes of the New Jersey Devils on 12 November 2008.

On 13 July 2009, Korpikoski was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Enver Lisin. On 11 July 2013, the Coyotes re-signed Korpikoski to a four-year contract extension.[1]

On 30 June 2015, with two seasons left on his contract, Korpikoski was traded by the rebuilding Coyotes to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Boyd Gordon.[2] He scored his first career NHL hat trick on 11 December 2015 against the New York Rangers.[3]

After only one year in Edmonton, on 30 June 2016, Korpikoski was placed on unconditional waivers by the Oilers for the purpose of buying out the final year of his contract.[4]

Korpikoski during his tenure with the New York Rangers

Before the start of the 2016–17 season, the Calgary Flames signed Korpikoski to a professional try-out contract to attend training camp on 22 September 2016.[5] Despite a successful pre-season with the Flames, Korpikoski was without a contract with the Flames. On 9 October, he was released at his request to pursue a contract offer. The following day he signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Dallas Stars.[6] Korpokoski cemented his role within the Stars checking lines, scoring 8 goals and 20 points in 60 games before he was dealt with the Stars out of post-season contention, to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Dillon Heatherington on 1 March 2017.[7]

After ending his NHL career, as an unsigned free agent, Korpikoski joined Swiss club, ZSC Lions of the National League for the duration of the 2017–18 season. In helping the Lions capture the Swiss championship, Korpikoski produced 2 goals and 6 points in 16 post-season games.

Korpikoski left Switzerland after one season, and opted to return to his native Finland, securing a long-term 6-year contract with former club, HC TPS of the Liiga, on May 21, 2018.[8]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2002–03	TPS	FIN U18		21	7	4	11	10		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	TPS	FIN U20		36	12	8	20	20		4	0	2	2	4
2003–04	TPS	FIN U18		—	—	—	—	—		4	5	3	8	16
2004–05	TPS	FIN U20		3	3	0	3	0		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	TPS	SM-l		41	0	6	6	12		6	1	0	1	0
2005–06	TPS	FIN U20		1	1	0	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	TPS	SM-l		51	3	4	7	16		2	0	1	1	0
2005–06	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		5	2	1	3	0		11	1	0	1	2
2006–07	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		78	11	27	38	23		7	0	0	0	0
2007–08	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		79	23	27	50	71		5	1	1	2	0
2007–08	New York Rangers	NHL		—	—	—	—	—		1	1	0	1	0
2008–09	New York Rangers	NHL		68	6	8	14	14		7	0	2	2	0
2008–09	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL		4	4	2	6	0		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		71	5	6	11	16		7	1	0	1	2
2010–11	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		79	19	21	40	20		4	0	1	1	2
2011–12	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		82	17	20	37	14		11	0	0	0	2
2012–13	TPS	SM-l		11	6	11	17	10		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		36	6	5	11	12		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		64	9	16	25	24		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Arizona Coyotes	NHL		69	6	15	21	12		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		71	10	12	22	10		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Dallas Stars	NHL		60	8	12	20	10		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		9	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	ZSC Lions	NL		19	2	6	8	6		16	2	4	6	4
2018–19	TPS	Liiga		4	0	0	0	2		3	0	0	0	0
2019–20	TPS	Liiga		48	17	16	33	28		—	—	—	—	—
SM-l/Liiga totals				155	26	37	63	68		11	1	1	2	0
NHL totals				609	86	115	201	132		30	2	3	5	6

International

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
Winter Olympics
	2014 Sochi
World Junior Championships
	2006 British Columbia

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2004	Finland	WJC18	7th		6	5	6	11	2
2005	Finland	WJC	5th		5	2	0	2	6
2006	Finland	WJC			7	1	5	6	4
2010	Finland	WC	6th		7	0	0	0	0
2013	Finland	WC	4th		8	3	2	5	4
2014	Finland	OG			6	2	2	4	2
2016	Finland	WCH	8th		3	0	0	0	4
Junior totals					18	8	11	19	12
Senior totals					24	5	4	9	10

References

1. "Coyotes trade Lisin to Rangers for Korpikoski". TSN. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
2. "Oilers get Korpikoski from Coyotes for Gordon". NBC Sports. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
3. "Korpikoski's hat trick leads Oilers to crazy win over Rangers". Sportsnet. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
4. "Boll, Carle, Seidenberg among those set to be bought out". Yahoo. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
5. "Flames open training camp on thursday". Calgary Flames. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
6. "Lauri Korpikoski signs one-year deal with Stars". Sportsnet.ca. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
7. "Blue Jackets making moves ahead of deadline". 10tv.com. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
8. "Lauri Korpikosko to TPS with a 6 year contract" (in Finnish). HC TPS. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database, or TSN.ca

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Al Montoya	New York Rangers first round draft pick 2004	Succeeded by Marc Staal