The Nashville Predators have signed defenseman Daniel Nieminen to a three-year entry-level contract starting in the 2026-27 season. Nieminen, 20, recently completed his second season in Finland's Liiga, recording five goals and 12 assists in 47 games.
Nashville Predators sign defenseman Daniel Nieminen to entry-level contract
The Nashville Predators have signed defenseman Daniel Nieminen to a three-year, entry-level contract starting in the 2026-27 season.
Nieminen, 20, just completed his second season playing for the Pelicans in Liiga, Finland's highest professional hockey league. He scored five goals and 12 assists in 47 games, giving him nine goals and 19 assists in 86 games over two seasons. He also played 20 international games for Finland, recording nine assists.
A 6-foot, 187-pound left-handed player, Nieminen is an excellent skater and uses that skill to his advantage on both defense and offense. The Predators have a good track record of drafting and developing mobile, two-way defenseman - Roman Josi, Spencer Stastney, and Ryan Ufko are all examples - so it's no wonder Nashville had their eye on him.
The Predators drafted Nieminen in the sixth round (No. 163 overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft. He's now the second player from their 2025 class to sign an entry-level contract, joining Brady Martin.
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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators sign defenseman Daniel Nieminen to entry-level contract
Daniel Nieminen signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators that will begin in the 2026-27 season.
In his last season with the Pelicans, Daniel Nieminen scored five goals and provided 12 assists in 47 games.
Daniel Nieminen has played 20 international games for Finland, where he recorded nine assists.
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