Juuso Parssinen continues to stand out and play a key role for Finland at the 2025 World Hockey Championships. The New York Rangers forward added another highlight to his strong tournament performance on Saturday, scoring a dazzling goal in Finland’s 2-1 victory over Latvia.
Early in the second period, Parssinen made an impressive between-the-legs move while skating at full speed toward the Latvian net. What looked like a pass attempt to a trailing teammate took a fortunate bounce, deflecting off a Latvian defender’s skate and into the goal, giving Finland a 1-0 lead at the 7:37 mark of the period.
Parssinen made the most of his lone shot on goal Saturday, turning it into a crucial score. He also had a strong showing in the faceoff circle, winning six of 10 draws, and finished with exactly 10 minutes of ice time.
The 24-year-old has now tallied four points—three goals and one assist—across five games for Finland, which has come out on top in four of those contests. Notably, Parssinen’s first two goals in the tournament were game-winners, and he currently holds an impressive plus-6 rating.
Parssinen’s goal on Saturday is rapidly gaining traction as a viral highlight across social media. But spotlight moments like this aren’t new for him. A couple of years ago, he made waves with a similar between-the-legs stunner in overtime while playing for the Nashville Predators against the Minnesota Wild.
Rangers intrigued with what they have in Juuso Parssinen
This is the kind of potential the Rangers envisioned when they acquired Parssinen from the Colorado Avalanche on March 1 as part of the Ryan Lindgren trade. It also played a role in their decision to sign him to a two-year, \$2.5 million contract just a few weeks ago.
After the trade, Parssinen was actually a healthy scratch more often than he played—sitting out 12 games while appearing in just 11. When he did suit up, he took on a bottom-six role, seeing time at both center and wing. In limited faceoff opportunities, he won 40.3 percent of his draws. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers managed only a 28.57 percent expected goals share during his 5-on-5 ice time, and they were heavily out-chanced, 77 to 21, while he was on the ice.
The big question with Parssinen has always been consistency. While he brings valuable versatility—capable of playing both center and wing—his performance has been up and down, even at the World Championships. Before his strong outing on Saturday, he struggled significantly in the face-off circle.
The upcoming season should provide the Rangers with a clearer picture of what they have in him—whether he’s simply a depth piece or a young player poised to break out and elevate his game.