Blue Jackets Trade Markus Hannikainen to Arizona Coyotes, Add Calvin Thurkauf on Emergency Recall
Feb 24, 2020The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, top affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, announced Monday that the Blue Jackets traded forward Markus Hannikainen to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional seventh round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Columbus also added forward Calvin Thurkauf to their roster on emergency recall from the Monsters.
A 6’1”, 200 lb. left-shooting native of Helsinki, Finland, Hannikainen, 26, posted 7-11-18 with six penalty minutes and a -4 rating in 28appearances for Cleveland this season and signed a one-year, one-way contract extension with the Blue Jackets on June 17, 2019. In 91 career NHL appearances, all for Columbus spanning parts of four seasons from 2015-19, Hannikainen tallied 8-7-15 with 14 penalty minutes and a -8 rating. In 143 career AHL appearances, all for Lake Erie/Cleveland spanning parts of four seasons from 2015-20, Hannikainen logged 33-45-78 with 48 penalty minutes and a +9 rating. In the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs, Hannikainen contributed 3-7-10 with two penalty minutes and a +12 rating in 16 appearances for the Monsters, helping the club claim the Calder Cup as AHL Playoff Champions.
Prior to his North American professional career, Hannikainen notched 22-31-53 with 67 penalty minutes and a +26 rating in 117 Liiga appearances for Jokerit, HPK and JyP spanning parts of four seasons from 2011-15, helping JyP claim the 2015 Liiga Bronze Medal. Internationally, Hannikainen represented Finland in the 2012 and 2013 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships and the 2017 IIHF World Championships.
A 6’2”, 212 lb. left-shooting native of Zug, Switzerland, Thurkauf, 22, was originally selected by Columbus in the seventh round (185th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and signed a three-year, two-way entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets on December 30, 2016. Thurkauf made his NHL debut for Columbus on Saturday in Nashville and posted 9-16-25 with 37 penalty minutes and a +6 rating in 47 appearances for the Monsters this season. In 148 career AHL appearances for Cleveland spanning three seasons from 2017-20, Thurkauf contributed 22-29-51 with 101 penalty minutes and a -10 rating.
Prior to his professional career, Thurkauf tallied 51-64-115 with 141 penalty minutes and a +53 rating in 121 WHL appearances for the Kelowna Rockets spanning two seasons from 2015-17. Additionally, Thurkauf represented Switzerland in the 2016 and 2017 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships.