All-Star Profile: Sebastian Aho

RALEIGH, NC. -For the second time in his now six-year National Hockey League career, Sebastian Aho is an All-Star.
After attending the event in 2019 in San Jose, the Finnish center earned the nomination again this season with 37 points in his first 30 games at the time of the league's announcement.

Aside from missing three games due to testing positive for COVID-19 in mid-December, the first-year alternate captain has anchored the team's top line for 39 of the team's 42 contests in the first half of the year, providing a consistent piece to the puzzle in a lineup that has commonly changed around him thus far this year.
Whether it's been Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen, Seth Jarvis and Nino Niederreiter, Jesper Fast or Jordan Martinook, Aho has found a way to get it done, pacing the team with his now 45 points in 39 games.
He's been an integral part of the club's special teams units as well, publishing 15 points on the man advantage. That total co-leads the team along with Teravainen and ranks in the top 20 league-wide among all forwards. His average of 3:12 a night when his team is on the power play is the most among all forwards.
When his club is down a man, Aho has played 79:25 this year, second only to Jordan Staal up front. Plus, as we know, he's not just logging minutes shorthanded either, he's a key reason why the team's penalty kill leads the league.
His even-strength average of 19:00 per night? Another area in which he leads all Canes forwards.
You name the situation, Aho's done a strong job with it this year.

The Big Moments:

Aho's Offense Single-Handedly Puts Out The Flames
Amid a scheduled six-game road trip the Canes went head-to-head against one of the best defending teams in the league on December 9. It was a contest that Rod Brind'Amour described post-game as "gross", not loving what his team was able to produce in a tight game against the club that entered the night tied with Carolina for having allowed the fewest goals allowed in the league. However, at the end of the day, they were able to pull out a win thanks to the 24-year-old forward.
Before the game reached its ugly setting, Aho put his team ahead just over four minutes in, only to be matched in the second period by former teammate Noah Hanifin.
But with less than a minute to go in the extra frame, the All-Star took matters into his own hands, burning by also former teammate Elias Lindholm and stuffing it by Jacob Markstrom.
"That's your best player. We rely on him to do a lot of things," Brind'Amour said post-game of his #20. "He came through for us when a lot of guys were just having off nights. Sometimes the best players just have to take over."

History With A Win Over Vegas
The game-winner in Calgary wasn't the only tally in extra time for Aho this year, his other coming last week against Vegas.
His seventh overtime winner as a member of the franchise propelled him into the top spot in organization history, surpassing Jeff O'Neill.
Carolina held a 3-1 lead with seven minutes to play in regulation, only to face some pushback and a pair of goals from the Golden Knights to force overtime. Then, some pressure from the center, combined with a miscue from Vegas, allowed Andrei Svechnikov to set up his fellow star forward to pick up the win.

Career Contest #400
It's almost hard to believe that the man known as "Fishy" has already reached 400 contests played in his career. Drafted in the second round of 2015, Aho is already within the ballpark of contributing a point-per-game in his time with the Canes and as seen above, is among some of the best to ever do it from his country, in terms of the start.
Although he was denied the opportunity to represent Finland at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Aho was named as one of the nation's three priority players in October.
Back before the unfortunate news regarding the lack of NHL player participation in the event, Brind'Amour called it a "no-brainer".
"He's matured both as a player and a person, naturally. He's put in the work so well as a player, that you see the results. He's an elite player. Getting to know him over the years, he's a great person. I think him learning the language here as helped express himself and he's a leader in our group."

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