SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Zito announced today that the club has agreed to terms with forward Samu Salminen on a two-year, entry-level contract.
"Samu is a reliable playmaking forward who played a significant role on Denver’s national championship team," said Zito. "We are looking forward to his growth within our organization as he begins his professional career.”
Salminen, 23, skated in 43 games with the University of Denver (NCAA) in 2025-26, compiling a career-high 11 goals and 29 points (11-18-29) while serving as an alternate captain to help the Pioneers secure both an NCHC title and a national championship. He led Denver with 376 faceoff wins (54%).
The 6-foot-2, 186-pound native of Helsinki, Finland has spent the last four seasons between Denver (2024-25 to 2025-26) and the University of Connecticut (2022-23 to 2023-24), amassing 91 points (37-54-91) over 149 total NCAA games. Prior to his North American career, Salminen played for Jokerit’s U20 team for parts of four seasons (2019-20 to 2022-23), logging 94 points (36-58-94) across 85 games while serving as team captain in 2021-22.
On the international stage, Salminen represented Finland as captain at the 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship, leading the team with seven goals while totaling nine points (7-2-9) in seven tournament games.
Salminen was originally selected by the New Jersey Devils in the third round (68th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
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