Ville Leino Signs With Dinamo Riga

Former NHLer Ville Leino will sign a deal with Dinamo Riga in the KHL, according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express, who says the deal will be signed on Friday. The terms and length of the deal are unknown at this point.

Leino was bought out of a six-year contract with the Buffalo Sabres following the 2013-14 season. The deal carried a cap hit of $4.5 million. It was a compliance buyout, so while the Buffalo Sabres are paying Leino until the 2019-20 season, it doesn’t count against the salary cap.

Leino had three years remaining on his deal after he scored zero goals and 15 assists in the 2013-14 season. He became a free agent following the buyout and signed with Medvescak Zagreb of the KHL, where he scored seven goals and eight assists over 28 games last season.

He was moved to the NLA later in the year, playing four games with Kloten before getting injured and being unable to finish the season.

Leino earned his big contract with Buffalo after scoring 19 goals and 34 assists with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010-11 season. He also had a big playoff performance the season prior with seven goals and 14 assists through 19 postseason games. In 2010-11 he put in three goals and two assists in 11 playoff matches.

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