Sun 12 Jul 2026 - 08:00AM
FULL LOWDOWN ON MIIKKA PITKÄNEN
Thirty-year-old Finnish forward Miikka Pitkänen is the latest addition to the Panthers roster for the 2025/26 season.
Born in Kuopio, Finland, Pitkänen came through the ranks of the local Liiga club Kalevan Pallo (KalPa), representing them from under-16s to under-20s.
Pitkänen was part of the Finland team that won gold at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, scoring five assists over six games. Finland beat Russia 2-1 after a penalty shots in the Gold Medal Game.
He's represented Finland at all junior levels from under-16 to under-20, playing 51 games and scoring 44 points.
Pitkänen made his senior debut for KalPa in the 2013/14 season, playing 11 Liiga games and scoring two goals.
For the next couple of seasons, he continued to share his time between KalPa’s under-20s and senior Liiga team, as well as taking a couple of loan spells in the second-tier Mestis with Kajaanin Hokki and Rovaniemen Kiekko (RoKi).
In 2017, he left KalPa after they came runner-up to Tappara in the Liiga final, losing four games to two in the best-of-seven-series.
He joined KooKoo Kouvola for the 2017/18 campaign, spending two seasons with the club. Pitkänen played 118 games for KooKoo, scoring 31 goals and 50 assists for 81 points.
Pitkänen returned to KalPa for the 2019/20 season, playing another three seasons ntil the end of 2021/22. In this spell, he played 137 games for the club, scoring 82 points.
He moved to fellow Liiga side Jukurit, based in Mikkeli, playing 19 games before returning to KalPa once again in 2023/24 for a final spell of 24 games.
In all, Pitkänen played 413 regular-season and playoff Liiga games, scoring 74 goals and 117 assists for 191 points in total.
He also made 16 appearances in the Champions Hockey League for KalPa and Jukurit, scoring four goals and two assists for six points overall.
During the 2023/24 season he moved to the Swedish Allsvenskan, signing with Södertälje SK for the remainder of the season and remaining with them for 2024/25.
Pitkänen played 64 games for Södertälje, scoring 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points overall.
He remained in the Allsvenskan in the 2025/26 campaign with Nybro Vikings, playing 29 games and scoring 15 points.
Pitkänen now brings his skills to Nottingham and will debut in August with his new club.