Joonas Kemppainen has signed a one-year contract in the KHL following one season with the Boston Bruins, according to CSNNE.com.
The Bruins originally signed Kemppainen, now 28 years old, to a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000 at the NHL level, making him the first move of the Don Sweeney era as general manager in Boston after an impressive playoff performance in Finland.
Kemppainen was adequate enough in both areas while posting two goals and five points along with a minus-6 rating in 44 games for the Black and Gold, but was a slow-skating offensive liability when given minutes as a third- and fourth-line center. In the end, the strengths simply didn’t outweigh the weaknesses for Kemppainen, who rotated in among Ryan Spooner, Chris Kelly and Max Talbot for the first few months of the NHL season while the Bruins gave him a chance to show his stuff.
Kemppainen also spent 11 games last season with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League.