Nashville, Tenn. (August 22, 2022) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the team has assigned forward Joakim Kemell to the Finnish Liiga’s JYP from the Finland National Junior Team.
Kemell, 18 (4/27/04), was selected by the Predators in the first round (17th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. He helped lead Finland to a silver medal in this month’s 2022 World Junior Championship, finishing with a team-high 12 points (4g-8a), also the second-most among all skaters in the tournament. The 5-foot-11, 171-pound right wing scored four goals – including the goal to send the gold-medal game against Canada to overtime – en route to recording the most points in a single World Junior Championship by a Predators draft pick. the tournament’s history.
He skated in his first full professional season with JYP in 2021-22, tallying 23 points (15g-8a) in 39 games. He led all Liiga rookies and was tied for third on his team in goals with 15; his 23 points were the second-most among U-19 skaters in his league. Kemell made his Liiga debut at age 17 and became the youngest player in league history to score a goal in each of his first two career games. Prior to turning pro, Kemell competed for JYP’s U-20 side, leading his team in goals (22) and points (36) during the 2020-21 campaign.
In addition to skating his country at this month’s World Juniors, the Jyväskylä, Finland, represented his home nation at the 2022 U-18 World Championship and was an alternate captain at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he was tied for third in goals with five.
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