Recently, the Dallas Stars signed Finnish forward Joel Kiviranta to a two-year ELC, growing their “Finnish Mafia” in the organization that consists of players such as Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, and Roope Hintz.
Of course, when talking about Finland and Dallas, you have to bring up Stars legend Jere Lehtinen. Currently the General Manager for Finland’s national team, Lehtinen often provides insight into his players to both the Stars and other NHL teams:
Lehtinen downplayed his role in Kiviranta’s signing, but did mention that NHL general managers had spoken to him about the Finnish forward and others from the 2019 IIHF Championship team.