NAHL alum Kaskisuo signs contract with Nashville

Kasimir Kaskisuo played in the NAHL during the 2013-14 season with the Minnesota Wilderness.

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/GM David Poile announced that the team has signed former NAHL goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 at the NHL level and $75,000 at the AHL level for the 2020-21 season.

Kaskisuo, 27, made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 16, 2019 at Pittsburgh and appeared in 27 games with the AHL's Toronto Marlies in 2019-20, his fourth full professional season.

Last season with the Marlies, the 6-foot-3, 194-pound goaltender won a career-high 14 games and recorded a 2.79 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and one shutout. In 95 career AHL performances with Toronto and the Chicago Wolves, Kaskisuo is 46-32-10 with a 2.65 goals-against average and eight shutouts, including a career-best four during the 2018-19 season.

Undrafted, the Vantaa, Finland, native spent his youth hockey career in the Jokerit Helsinki program before moving to North America to play for the NAHL's Minnesota Wilderness. Kaskisuo played in the NAHL during the 2013-14 season for the Wilderness and was named to the All-Midwest Division team that season. That season, he led all NAHL goalies with a 1.48 goals against average, a .944 save percentage and was second in shutouts with nine.

He then played two seasons of college hockey for the University of Minnesota-Duluth and broke several school goaltending records, including career goals-against average (2.10) and save percentage (.920). During his sophomore season, Kaskisuo recorded a 1.92 goals-against average, setting the Bulldogs single-season record, and tied the school's shutout record with five en route to a spot on the NCHC's Honorable Mention All-Star Team.