When San Jose signed free agents Lukas Radil and Antti Suomela, it was widely expected that one of them would spend time in the AHL, while the other would plug a hole in the forward corps created by Chris Tierney’s departure to the Ottawa Senators. But just about nobody expected that Suomela would be the former while Lukas Radil would be the latter.
Coming from the KHL’s Spartak Moscow, Radil’s solid offensive numbers and responsible defensive play meant that he was given a role on Logan Couture’s wing along with Tomas Hertl, where he was more than able to hold his own.