The Edmonton Oilers continue to add to their ranks with their latest move signing high-scoring Finnish defenceman Atro Leppänen to a one-year, entry-level contract.
The 26-year-old left-shot blue liner is coming off a tremendous season for Vaasan Sport in Finland’s Liiga, where he put up 21 goals and 63 points in 60 games. That point total set a Liiga record for most points by a defenceman in a single year, while also leading all players. His 42 assists paced all defencemen, and his goal total ranked second in the league.
His 2024-25 campaign built off a strong 2023-24 season, his first in Liiga, where he put up a stellar 12 goals and 28 points in 55 games. Prior to joining Vaasan, he spent four seasons playing in Finland’s Mestis league, scoring 37 goals and 103 points in 145 games.
Standing at 6’0″, 182 lbs., he isn’t a big defenceman by any means, but Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis tells Oilersnation he has lots of offensive upside.
He plays a high-risk high-reward game. He’s really skilled with the puck, more so than most. He had a really big season this year where he played of so much confidence. The big issue here though is he does struggle in his own zone which is not ideal for a defenseman. I don’t think he’s an everyday NHL player, but if you were going to sign a guy out of Europe to add some defensive depth, this was the one to get.
He becomes the latest free agent signing joining forwards Josh Samanski, 23, David Tomasek, 29, Quinn Hutson, 23, and defenceman Damian Carfagna, 22, all of whom inked deals with the Oilers in recent weeks. The team has been at the forefront of adding players from Europe this spring as the team looks to add further depth to their organizational ranks.
The team has also signed draftee goaltenders Nathaniel Day and Samuel Jonsson to entry-level deals in the past week.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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