Eliteprospects
Finland Sami Niku
#8 Ilves / Liiga - 23/24
1-time U20 WJC Gold Medal 1
1-time AHL All-Rookie Team 1
1-time AHL Best Defenseman (Eddie Shore Award) 1
1-time AHL First All-Star Team 1
Date of Birth
Oct 10, 1996
Position
D
Age
27
Height
6'1" / 185 cm
Place of Birth
Haapavesi, FIN
Weight
194 lbs / 88 kg
Nation
Finland
Shoots
L
Youth Team
JYP
Contract
23/24
Drafted
2015 round 7 #198 overall by Winnipeg Jets
Agency
PREMIUM

Brothers: Juho Niku, Tomi Niku

© Photo: UPSTATE / William Rondeau

Use/Embed statistics

Sami Niku Statistics

S Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-   POST GP G A TP PIM +/-
2010-11 JYP U16 U16 SM-sarja Q 9* 1* 2* 3* 4* -* |
JYP U16 U16 SM-sarja 25* 1* 5* 6* 10* -* | Playoffs 3 0 0 0 0 -
2011-12 JYP U16 U16 SM-sarja Q 7* 0* 4* 4* 2* -* |
JYP U16 U16 SM-sarja 14* 1* 8* 9* 4* -* | Playoffs 3 0 3 3 0 -
JYP U18 U18 SM-sarja 17* 1* 1* 2* 0* -* |
Finland U16 (all) International-Jr 1* 0* 0* 0* 0* 1* |
2012-13 JYP U17 U17 SM-sarja 0* 0* 0* 0* 0* -* | Playoffs 7 1 4 5 2 -
JYP U18 U18 SM-sarja 3* 2* 1* 3* 0* -* |
JYP U20 U20 SM-liiga 30* 0* 8* 8* 22* -3* | Playoffs 6 0 0 0 2 -3
Finland U17 WHC-17 5* 1* 1* 2* 4* -* |
Finland U17 (all) International-Jr 6* 1* 1* 2* 2* -4* |
2013-14 JYP U18 U18 SM-sarja 1* 0* 3* 3* 0* -* |
JYP U20 U20 SM-liiga 20* 4* 10* 14* 20* 1* |
JYP-Akatemia Mestis 30* 0* 3* 3* 16* 2* |
Finland U18 WJC-18 5* 1* 0* 1* 0* -3* |
Finland U18 (all) International-Jr 20* 3* 5* 8* 6* -* |
2014-15 JYP-Akatemia Mestis 39* 3* 22* 25* 24* 8* | Playoffs 6 0 5 5 4 2
JYP Liiga 12* 0* 1* 1* 6* 1* |
Finland U20 WJC-20 5* 0* 0* 0* 0* 2* |
Finland U20 (all) International-Jr 24* 3* 5* 8* 6* 7* |
2015-16 JYP Liiga 38* 4* 7* 11* 2* 2* |
JYP-Akatemia Mestis 7* 0* 2* 2* 4* 1* |
Finland U20 WJC-20 7* 1* 1* 2* 2* 3* |
Finland U20 (all) International-Jr 17* 2* 3* 5* 8* 9* |
2016-17 JYP Liiga 59* 5* 22* 27* 26* 3* | Playoffs 15 1 5 6 2 -1
2017-18 Winnipeg Jets NHL 1* 1* 0* 1* 0* 0* |
Manitoba Moose AHL 76* 16* 38* 54* 30* 17* | Playoffs 9 1 2 3 2 -1
2018-19 Winnipeg Jets NHL 30* 1* 3* 4* 2* 0* |
Manitoba Moose AHL 20* 3* 9* 12* 14* -6* |
2019-20 Winnipeg Jets NHL 17* 0* 5* 5* 12* -2* |
Manitoba Moose AHL 18* 3* 11* 14* 12* -6* |
2020-21 Winnipeg Jets NHL 6* 0* 0* 0* 8* -3* |
2021-22 Montréal Canadiens NHL 13* 0* 6* 6* 2* 3* |
Laval Rocket AHL 36* 2* 11* 13* 14* 3* | Playoffs 15 0 11 11 10 2
2022-23 JYP “A” Liiga 54* 9* 33* 42* 26* 7* |
Finland (all) International 4* 0* 1* 1* 2* 3* |
2023-24 JYP Liiga 37* 11* 26* 37* 24* -7* |
Ilves Liiga 16* 1* 11* 12* 4* 13* | Playoffs 5 0 1 1 2 1
Finland (all) International 3* 0* 0* 0* 0* -3* |

Sami Niku Tournament Statistics

S Team League GP G A TP PIM +/-   POST GP G A TP PIM +/-
2012-13 Finland U17 EYOF 3* 0* 1* 1* 2* 7* |
2013-14 Finland U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial 4* 1* 1* 2* 4* -1* |
2014-15 JYP Champions HL 1* 0* 0* 0* 0* 1* |
2015-16 JYP Champions HL 6* 0* 1* 1* 2* 1* |
2016-17 JYP Champions HL 8* 1* 2* 3* 4* 2* |
2022-23 Finland EHT 4* 0* 1* 1* 2* 3* |
2023-24 Finland EHT 3* 0* 0* 0* 0* -3* |

Sami Niku Career Totals

League Years GP G A TP PPG PIM +/- | Years GP G A TP PPG PIM +/-
AHL 4 150* 24* 69* 93* 0.62* 70* 8* | 2 24 1 * 13 * 14 * 0.58 * 12 * 1 *
Champions HL 3 15* 1* 3* 4* 0.27* 6* 4* | 0 * * * * * *
EHT 2 7* 0* 1* 1* 0.14* 2* 0* | 0 * * * * * *
EYOF 1 3* 0* 1* 1* 0.33* 2* 7* | 0 * * * * * *
Ivan Hlinka Memorial (Hlinka Gretzky Cup) 1 4* 1* 1* 2* 0.50* 4* -1* | 0 * * * * * *
International 2 7* 0* 1* 1* 0.14* 2* 0* | 0 * * * * * *
International-Jr 5 68* 9* 14* 23* 0.34* 22* 13* | 0 * * * * * *
Liiga 5 216* 30* 100* 130* 0.60* 88* 19* | 2 20 1 * 6 * 7 * 0.35 * 4 * 0 *
Mestis 3 76* 3* 27* 30* 0.39* 44* 11* | 1 6 0 * 5 * 5 * 0.83 * 4 * 2 *
NHL 5 67* 2* 14* 16* 0.24* 24* -2* | 0 * * * * * *
U16 SM-sarja 2 39* 2* 13* 15* 0.38* 14* -* | 2 6 0 * 3 * 3 * 0.50 * 0 * - *
U16 SM-sarja Q 2 16* 1* 6* 7* 0.44* 6* -* | 0 * * * * * *
U17 SM-sarja 1 0* 0* 0* 0* -* 0* -* | 1 7 1 * 4 * 5 * 0.71 * 2 * - *
U18 SM-sarja 3 21* 3* 5* 8* 0.38* 0* -* | 0 * * * * * *
U20 SM-liiga (U20 SM-sarja) 2 50* 4* 18* 22* 0.44* 42* -2* | 1 6 0 * 0 * 0 * 0.00 * 2 * -3 *
WHC-17 1 5* 1* 1* 2* 0.40* 4* -* | 0 * * * * * *
WJC-18 1 5* 1* 0* 1* 0.20* 0* -3* | 0 * * * * * *
WJC-20 2 12* 1* 1* 2* 0.17* 2* 5* | 0 * * * * * *
* Some data is missing to provide a correct summary.

Sami Niku Career Highlights

Season
Awards by season
Transactions
DATE STATUS FROM TO SOURCE
01/22/2024
01/22/2024 Confirmed JYP Ilves
04/17/2023
04/17/2023 Extension JYP JYP
07/29/2022
07/29/2022 Confirmed Laval Rocket JYP
09/24/2021
09/24/2021 Confirmed Winnipeg Jets Montréal Canadiens
09/20/2021
09/20/2021 Confirmed Winnipeg Jets Unknown
10/29/2020
10/29/2020 Extension Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg Jets
05/15/2017
05/15/2017 Confirmed JYP Winnipeg Jets
12/23/2015
12/23/2015 Extension JYP JYP
Player Biography and Trivia

2015 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #116 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

2015 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #56 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (EU Skaters

Career transactions
- 2015-04-17 • Signed to a three-year contract extension with JYP

Career assingments
- 2015-2016 • Assigned to JYP-Akatemia by JYP
- 2014-2015 • Assigned to JYP-Akatemia by JYP
- 2013-2014 • Assigned to JYP-Akatemia by JYP U20

Other memorable dates
- 2016-01-22 • Scored first Liiga goal against Sport(Mika Järvinen)
- 2016-01-05 • Won World Junior Championship gold medal
- 2015-12-23 • Selected to U20 World Junior Championship roster
- 2014-12-22 • Selected to U20 World Junior Championship roster
- 2014-10-02 • Scored first Liiga assist point against TPS
- 2014-09-16 • Made Liiga debut (vs. HPK) +/-: -1 PIM: 0 S: 2 TOI: 9:16 (AGE:17)
- 2014-04-16 • Selected to U18 World Junior Championship roster
- 2012-12-10 • Selected to U17 World Hockey Challenge roster