Chicago Blackhawks Player Preview: Teuvo Teravainen makes his return to the Windy City

Among all of the moves the Chicago Blackhawks made this offseason, one of the most anticipated arrivals is the return of forward Teuvo Teravainen.

The Finnish winger was inked to a 3-year deal worth $5.4 million per year back in July, making him a major addition to a young Blackhawks' roster.

Teravainen was drafted 18th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Blackhawks. He would play two seasons for Jokerit in the Finnish professional league (Liiga) before coming to North America full-time during the 2014-15 season.

As a 20-year-old, Teravainen split time between the Blackhawks and the Rockford IceHogs (AHL) as he worked on developing and adapting his skillset to the North American ice surface. His debut season saw him post nine points in 34 games, but Teravainen took off in the 2015 playoffs where he tallied 10 points in 18 games.

After playing in 78 games for the Blackhawks in 2015-16, Teravainen was traded alongside Bryan Bickell to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a second-round pick in 2016 and a third-round pick in 2017.

This move was made so the Blackhawks to clear up Bryan Bickell's $4 million dollar contract which had one year left on the deal. The fan response to this trade left many wondering why the team would give up one of their promising young forwards to clear up a contract with one season remaining.

Teravainen has been gone for quite some time.

To put it into perspective, the last time he was a member of the Blackhawks; Patrick Kane won the Hart and Art Ross trophies, Artemi Panarin had just won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, Corey Crawford led the team with a 35-18-5 record and .924 save percentage, and the Blackhawks were one season removed from their third Stanley Cup in six seasons.

During his time in Carolina, Teravainen became a core member of a roster looking to turn a corner when he was acquired in 2016. In eight seasons with the Hurricanes, Teravainen surpassed 60 points four different times, with 76 points being his career-high in the 2018-19 season.

Teravainen returns with even more playoff experience than when he left. After missing the playoffs during his first two seasons in Carolina, the team has made the postseason for six consecutive seasons.

During those six seasons, Teravainen accumulated 65 playoff games where he totaled 39 points.