Hämeenaho's Simple Summer | FEATURE

The summer of 2025 was the most normal for Lenni Hämeenaho of the past three years. And yet, in some ways, it was the most daunting.

This was the first summer in the past three where Hämeenaho could focus solely on himself and his game, with no other distractions.

Back in 2023, his summer was anything but ordinary. Fresh off his first pro season with Ässät in the Finnish Liiga, Hämeenaho flew to Las Vegas for the NHL Draft, where the New Jersey Devils selected him in the second round, 58th overall. What followed was a blur: interviews, his first visit to New Jersey, development camp, and only then a late return to Finland in mid-July, just weeks before his next Liiga season began.

The summer of 2024 brought its own unique challenge. Instead of development camp in New Jersey, Hämeenaho reported for mandatory Finnish military service. Hockey had to share space with his military service.

But the summer of 2025 was refreshingly simple. For the first time in years, Hämeenaho had no distractions. It was all hockey.

It was also the first summer where the 20-year-old would be preparing to move to North America, with a chance to crack the Devils' roster or embrace the learning curve with the Utica Comets in the American Hockey League.

Either way, Lenni is here, and he's had the most simple summer to prepare.

"It was also different (because) I wasn't training with my team in Finland," he said. "I was training just with other guys in Helsinki. It was so good. It was like a new summer, it was better than the last two."

And simple should not be conflated with relaxed or unfocused. His summer was simple because there was no extra; it was just about hockey and preparation.

Lenni has been on quite the trajectory.

It all started with his best year yet in Liiga play. His whole year with Assat was superb, playing on one of the best lines in Liiga during the 2024-25 season. Hämeenaho teamed up with 37-year-old Jan-Mikael Järvinen and 25-year-old Eemil Erholtz, to be the top three producers on Assat, with Hämeenaho and Järvinen both finishing in Liiga's Top 15 for points (Järvinen, 10th with 54 pts, Hameenaho, 15th with 51 pts).

"I think it was good, good learning before I came here," Hämeenaho said of his Liiga years of experience before making the jump to North America. "Every year was like better, and every year I got more mature and get more power, and was feeling like more better on and off the ice. I think every year was good learning and getting more mature."

Playing, too, with Järvinen was a bit of a thrill for Hämeenaho. Järvinen may not be a name we are familiar with in North America, but his prestige certainly carries weight in Finland.

"He was obviously really big, big impact," Hämeenaho said. "An older guy, older center. He's a really nice guy. He was a captain of our team, and he's been so good. When I was a little kid, I was watching him. Him and Patrick Laine. It was really cool to play with him. It was the best center, best (player) I have ever had."

"Obviously, at first he was little bit weird," Hämeenaho said of playing with Järvinen. "But he's (such) a nice guy. We had straight up, chemistry right away, with our other winger too. He's also such a nice guy. I think we really supported together really well. Like each of us on the ice we all had our strengths and weakness and we support(ed) eachother."

It was his play in Liiga that helped put Hämeenaho on the list to join the Finnish national team at the World Championships, too. Leading up to the tournament, he had been playing some of his strongest hockey of the season; leading to his first appearance with the Men's team at Worlds in May. This was a big moment for one of the youngest players at the IIHF event.

"It was obviously big thing," he said. "Also, after good season, to get that one more step up and level up to national team games, it was like first touch to play (against) NHL players and top players there. So it was good to see where, where they are, and what I need to do, so that I can compete against them."

His first impressions?

"Maybe just strength on the like battling," Hämeenaho said of what he learned quickly. "And obviously the speed was really high those games, but like, guys were really much stronger, and there was no time like to do stuff. So maybe that was the biggest thing."

What that experience also gave him was a clear indication of what his ordinary summer needed to look like. He knew now from personal experience where he needed to get better to make the biggest impact.

So, Hameenaho also packed up once again and moved to Helsinki for the summer, leaving behind his regular home base in Pori. In Helsinki he was able to train with current NHL players, including recent two-time Stanley Cup winner Anton Lundell of the Florida Panthers. Along with Lundell, Hameenaho also skated and trained with 31-year-old Esa Lindell of the Dallas Stars and Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen.

"Really, really good players, and it was good to train with them," Hämeenaho shared. "It was so good (to) prepare for this season and for summer training that I got to train with good guys all the summer. So that was big thing (for me).

"They’ve been speaking that it’s faster, you don’t have that much safe, so those are the things that I’ve been told to be ready.”

"Obviously, I asked them what's the game like and what's the living like in the States," he added. "(It's good) to know what is different, always different. The food, living and stuff like that."

And now Hämeenaho is here with one game at the Prospects Challenge under his belt. There's eyes on him now as he begins this next phase in life, and will be given the opportunity to make an impact. In the first game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hämeenaho was playing on the top line, he also was tapped for first unit power play duties. He's focused now on just showing what he can bring.

“Just trying to play my own game, with my own strengths," he said. "I think my offensive zone skills, trying to be cretive with the puck and try to score and make chances for my linemates when I have a chance.”

The Prospects Challenge, says Utica head coach Ryan Parent, who is running the camp for the Devils, is a great feeling out process for Hämeenaho who has progressively taken steps over the years. This is, however, the biggest one.

“This is a great first step, an introduction," Parent said. "(He's) obviously played over here before, so it’s not that new but for these guys, travel is a big issue, they get adjusted, they come over earlier and in terms of hoceky it’s a little bit of a different style that is more demanded the way we play here. Different ice size, sheet. The tempo, the pace, there’s different expectations which again, this is a great opportunity for him to come in, learn what those are and get used to them, so that he can have a better opportunity at main camp.”

A lot is new for Hämeenaho but he's taking it all in stride. Now, with his move to North America finally here, he's is eager to step onto the ice with the Devils and show how much his game has matured.

"I'm most excited to get to just play," He said. "It's been so long since last game. So just to get to play and get to know the guys from the team, and see whawt it's like to kind of play here."