In their final trade of the day, the Columbus Blue Jackets traded Cleveland Monsters forward Markus Hannikainen to the Arizona Coyotes for a conditional 2020 seventh round draft pick. Hannikainen must play in 10 games for the Coyotes in order for the Jackets to receive the conditional pick.
In 91 games with the Jackets, Hannikainen tallied 8g and 7a.
Hannikainen spent the bulk of his four years with the organization playing 143 games with the Monsters. During Hannikainen’s time with Cleveland, he notched 78 points in the form of 33 goals and 45 assists. He was also a huge piece in the 2016 Calder Cup Championship puzzle notching 10 points and a +12 rating over 16 games.
The 2019-20 season started with Hannikainen being sent to Cleveland. It came as a bit of shock due to the fact the Jackets had just signed him to a one-year, one-way contract during the summer. In true Hannikainen fashion, he handled the demotion with grace and maturity. Through injuries and being benched, Hannikainen continued to maintain his patented positive attitude complete with a bright smile whenever anyone came within eyesight. This is just who Hannikainen is as a person. He is ability to motivate and maintain a positive state of mind has helped both him become a better player and teams to become better teams.
Due to an injury, Hannikainen was only able to play in 28 games during the 2019-20 season. As of late, the Monsters began to see glimpses of the skilled Hannikainen from past seasons. Some of those glimpses included goals from below the goal line, quarterbacking plays, and zipping around defenders like they were traffic cones.