Finnish winger Roby Järventie, 22, has signed a three-year contract with Tappara, the Liiga club announced on Tuesday.

A Tampere native, Järventie is returning to his hometown after spending the past four seasons in North America in the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers organizations.

“Really good feeling – it’s nice to be home,” Järventie is quoted on the Tappara website. “It’s always been a dream to play together with my brother, so this is a great opportunity to make that dream come true.”

Roby’s younger brother Emil, 20, was a seventh-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023. The two brothers are actually products of rival club Ilves but Emil transferred to Tappara last season, where he split time between the club’s Liiga and top junior teams. This will be Roby’s first tour of duty with Tappara. Due to their age difference, this will be the first time the brothers have played together on the same team.

Roby Järventie was chosen in the second round, 33rd overall, by Ottawa in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He then went to North America late in the pandemic-delayed 2021 season to play for the AHL’s Belleville Senators, recording three points in four games.

After playing a full season with Belleville in 2021-22, Järventie missed significant amounts of the next two campaigns with a recurring knee injury. He managed to play seven NHL games with Ottawa in 2023-24, recording one assist.

In the summer of 2024, he was traded to Edmonton. Järventie missed training camp after another knee surgery but only managed to play in two AHL games with the Bakersfield Condors in November before re-injuring his knee and has not played since.

According to an  Ilta-Sanomat article in March, Järventie’s rehab has been going well and he is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in late summer with Tappara.

In addition to the Järventie brothers, Tappara has also signed veteran defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka, who played 150 NHL games for the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames. The club also has Calgary prospect Eetu Tuola and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Oiva Keskinen under contract for 2025-26.

Topi Rönni’s Contract With Finnish Club Terminated Due To Public UproarFinnish center Topi Rönni, who recently signed as a free agent with Liiga club Vaasan Sport, has agreed to part ways with the club after the signing drew intense criticism from the Finnish public and media.