Tuomo Ruutu

Tuomo Ruutu

Ruutu in 2014 as a member of the New Jersey Devils
Born (1983-02-16) February 16, 1983
Vantaa, FIN
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
NLA team
Former teams
HC Davos
Helsingin IFK
Jokerit
Chicago Blackhawks
Carolina Hurricanes
New Jersey Devils
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 9th overall, 2001
Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career 1999present

Tuomo Iisakki Ruutu (born February 16, 1983) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for HC Davos in the National League A (NLA). Drafted in the first round, ninth overall, at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, the team he spent the first four seasons of his NHL career with, Ruutu has also played in the NHL for the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils.

Ruutu is the younger brother of Jarkko Ruutu, a former ice hockey player, as well as Ottawa Senators European scout Mikko Ruutu.

Playing career

Ruutu as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Ruutu started out playing for HIFK in the Finnish SM-liiga in the 1999–2000 season, and moved to Jokerit for the next two seasons. In 2002, he returned to HIFK for one more season. He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, as their first-round pick, ninth overall. He then moved to North America in 2003, playing a full 82 games with the Blackhawks in the 2003–04 season.

Ruutu did not play during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, opting to take the time to recover from injuries, but provided commentary on Finnish television during the 2005 IIHF World Championship, along with fellow Finnish NHLer Ville Nieminen. Ruutu returned to the NHL after the lockout but his 2005–06 season was cut short, first by a back injury that kept him out of the game for most of the fall, then by an ankle injury sustained in January that required season-ending surgery.

Ruutu represented Finland at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and scored his first goal with the Finns in the final against Canada.

After an unimpressive showing at the 2006 IIHF World Championship, Ruutu contemplated retirement from professional. However, this notion was put to rest when Ruutu signed a two-year, $3.75 million contract extension with Chicago on September 13.

During the 2007–08 season, on February 26, 2008, at the NHL trade deadline, the Blackhawks traded Ruutu to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Andrew Ladd. The Hurricanes promptly signed Ruutu to a one-year contract worth $2.25 million.

On July 23, 2009, the Hurricanes signed Ruutu to a three-year, $11.4 million contract extension, paying $3 million in 2009–10, $4 million in 2010–11 and $4.4 million in 2011–12.[1]

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Ruutu won the bronze medal with Finland, and in 2011, he added a World Championship gold medal to his international resume. He has earned a medal in each of the 11 major international tournaments he has competed in.

On February 22, 2012, the Hurricanes signed Ruutu to a four-year contract extension worth $19 million. The deal will pay Ruutu $4 million in 2012–13 and $5 million per year in the remaining years; it also includes a no-trade clause for the first three years of the contract.[2]

Ruutu also played for Finland at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, as the Finns finished in third place, routing the United States 5–0 to claim bronze, with Ruutu recording an assist on Juuso Hietanen's goal.

Just hours before the end of the NHL trade deadline on March 5, 2014, Ruutu was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for centre Andrei Loktionov.[3]

Ruutu was not re-signed by the Devils once his contract expired, becoming a unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2016. After going through the summer unsigned, Ruutu agreed to a professional tryout with the Vancouver Canucks on September 13.[4]

On October 11, 2016, Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced that Ruutu had been released from his PTO contract.[5]

On October 28, 2016, Ruutu was signed by HC Davos for the remainder of the season as a replacement for injured Daniel Rahimi.[6] He made his NLA debut on November 11, 2016 and scored his first goal that same day in a 3-2 loss in Geneva against Genève-Servette HC.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–00 HIFK SM-l 1 0 0 0 2
2000–01 Jokerit SM-l 47 11 11 22 94 5 0 0 0 4
2001–02 Jokerit SM-l 51 7 16 23 69 10 0 6 6 29
2002–03 HIFK SM-l 30 12 15 27 24
2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 23 21 44 58
2005–06 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 15 2 3 5 31
2006–07 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 71 17 21 38 95
2007–08 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 60 6 15 21 75
2007–08 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 17 4 7 11 16
2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 79 26 28 54 79 16 1 3 4 8
2009–10 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 54 14 21 35 50
2010–11 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 82 19 38 57 54
2011–12 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 72 18 16 34 50
2012–13 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 17 4 5 9 8
2013–14 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 57 5 11 16 34
2013–14 New Jersey Devils NHL 19 3 5 8 10
2014–15 New Jersey Devils NHL 77 7 6 13 28
2015–16 New Jersey Devils NHL 33 0 1 1 8
NHL totals 735 148 198 346 596 16 1 3 4 8
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
Olympic Games
2010 Vancouver
2014 Sochi
World Championships
2011 Slovakia
2007 Russia
2006 Latvia
2008 Canada
World Junior Championships
2001 Russia
2002 Czech Republic
2003 Canada
World U18 Championships
2000 Switzerland
World Cup
2004 Canada

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2000 Finland WJC18 7 6 2 8 0
2001 Finland WJC 7 1 3 4 4
2002 Finland WJC 7 4 1 5 10
2003 Finland WJC 7 2 8 10 6
2004 Finland WCH 6 1 2 3 4
2006 Finland WC 9 0 0 0 49
2007 Finland WC 8 3 3 6 20
2008 Finland WC 9 4 2 6 8
2010 Finland Oly 6 1 0 1 2
2011 Finland WC 9 6 0 6 8
2014 Finland Oly 6 1 4 5 2
Junior totals 28 13 14 27 20
Senior totals 53 16 11 27 93

See also

References

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Pavel Vorobiev
Chicago Blackhawks first round draft pick
2001
Succeeded by
Adam Munro
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