FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill said Wednesday that Joel Kiviranta fit Dallas both as a player and under the salary cap. Nill also called Kiviranta the rally guy in the dressing room. Kiviranta signed a one-year, $1 million contract on July 1.
Kiviranta’s first professional season in North America was with Dallas.
“We have a great history with Kivi,” Nill said. “You go back to, we signed him out of Finland. His first pro opportunity was with the Dallas Stars. He did a great job for us. Everybody knows the bubble, what went on, what he did for the team. And so he’s a good fit for us. We know he fits into the dressing room. So when we had the opportunity, once again, it’s got to be the right fit player-wise and financially under the cap. He was a good fit for us, and we know how he fits in the room. He’s a big part of it.”
“For the people that don’t know Kivi, he seems pretty quiet and reserved, but in the dressing room, he’s kind of the rally guy,” Nill continued. “So it’s great to have a player come back like that, and he plays the game the right way.”
Nill said a team always needs that type of player.
“It never hurts. You never have enough of it. You always need those types of players,” Nill said.
Joel Kiviranta’s 2020 Game 7 Hat Trick For The Dallas Stars
Dallas signed Kiviranta as an undrafted free agent on May 31, 2019, after six seasons in Finland’s SM-Liiga. That spring, he won a gold medal with Finland at the World Championship.
On Sept. 4, 2020, in the Edmonton bubble, Kiviranta scored three goals against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of the second round. The third came 7:24 into overtime and gave Dallas a 5-4 win. It was his third career playoff game, and he was in the lineup because Andrew Cogliano was unfit to play. Kiviranta finished that postseason with 5 goals, 1 assist, and 6 points in 14 games, and Dallas reached the Stanley Cup Final.
Joel Kiviranta Returns To Dallas Stars After Three Seasons In Colorado
Kiviranta had 28 points in 163 games with Dallas. He left when his contract expired in 2023. He then spent three seasons in Colorado, and last season he had 3 goals, 6 assists, and 9 points in 51 games for the Avalanche.
In August, Pro Hockey Rumors, working from PuckPedia figures, listed Dallas at $1,360,333 over the $104 million upper limit. Nill said Wednesday that the cap will force decisions on players.
Camp opens Thursday at Comerica Center. The preseason opens Saturday, Sept. 19, at the St. Louis Blues, with puck drop at 6 p.m. CT.
