The exodus continues.
Detroit Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula became the latest locked-out NHLer to find work overseas on Wednesday, agreeing to terms with Finnish league outfit Jokerit.
The move comes as no surprise given Filppula’s ties to the organization -- he played with Jokerit before joining the Red Wings organization following the lockout.
During the last work stoppage, the 28-year-old Finn was joined by a number of locked-out players on one of the SM-liiga’s most successful teams. Jokerit’s 2004-05 squad included Filppula, Tim Thomas, Brian Campbell, Sami Lepisto, Glen Metropolit and Ossi Vaananen.
Filppula is coming of a career year -- 23G-43A-66PTS -- and is the second Detroit player to sign overseas within the last 24 hours. Earlier, it was announced that Pavel Datsyuk had agreed to terms with KHL powerhouse CSKA Moscow.
Other NHLers that have either signed (or are close to signing) in Finland include Edmonton’s Lennart Petrell, San Jose’s Jason Demers and Carolina’s Jussi Jokinen.