The Vegas Golden Knights have their first-round pick from the 2026 NHL Draft officially under contract. General manager Kelly McCrimmon confirmed Wednesday that defenseman Juho Piiparinen, selected 29th overall, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the team.
Piiparinen is only 17 years old, and he’s already logged time in Finland’s top professional league. The right-shot blueliner from Lahti spent most of last season with Tappara in Liiga, racking up three assists and a plus-6 rating across 29 games. That’s not nothing for a kid playing against grown men in one of Europe’s better hockey leagues.
The financial details, per PuckPedia, break down like this: NHL salaries of $922,500 in year one, then $967,500, then $1.0125 million. Each season includes a signing bonus too — $102,500, $107,500 and $112,500 respectively. His AHL salary sits at $87,500 annually. No performance bonuses in this deal.
Why This Kid Matters
Piiparinen isn’t just another European lottery ticket. He’s the seventh first-rounder in franchise history to actually sign with Vegas, which says something about how the team views his upside. At 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds, he’s got the frame to handle NHL physicality already. The offensive numbers aren’t eye-popping yet, but that’s not really his game at this stage.
He also put up 13 points in 15 games for Tappara’s U20 squad, with 12 of those being assists. The guy sees the ice. During the U20 playoffs he added two more helpers in 14 games.
Internationally, Piiparinen has been a fixture for Finland. He played at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, logging one assist and a plus-6 in six games. He also captained Finland at the Under-18 Men’s World Championship, though he didn’t score there. At the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last August he collected three assists in five games.
The Long Road to Vegas
The pick that landed Piiparinen went through a bunch of hands before ending up with the Golden Knights. Originally belonging to the Colorado Avalanche, it then passed through the New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks before Vegas got its turn. That’s a lot of teams passing on him — or moving the asset — before the Knights decided to pull the trigger.
Piiparinen recently attended Vegas’s development camp after the draft. The plan right now is for him to keep developing with Tappara in Finland for the 2026-27 season. No rush. The Knights have shown they’re willing to let prospects marinate overseas before bringing them over.
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