University of Denver Athletics

NHL: Selected by the Arizona Coyotes in Round 3 (No. 67 Overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft ... Rights transferred to the Utah Hockey Club after all Arizona hockey assets were moved to the new franchise on June 13, 2024 ... Signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Utah on July 1, 2024.

Honors and Awards: 2024 NCAA National Champion … 2024 NCAA Northeast Regional All-Tournament Team … 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team … 2023-24 NCHC All-Rookie Team (unanimous) … NCHC Rookie of the Month (November 2023) … 4x NCHC Rookie of the Week (Nov. 13, 2023; Nov. 20, 2023; Dec. 11, 2023; Jan. 15, 2024) … Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year Award watch list (2023-24)

2023-24: Ranked fourth among all NCAA freshmen with 20 goals, becoming the ninth DU freshman to reach the mark in program history and first since Henrik Borgstrom in 2016-17 (22) … Was one of two 20-goal scorers on the Pioneers and added 13 assists to finish seventh on the team with 33 points … Placed second on Denver in goals, power-play goals (6) and shots (111) and finished the campaign with a +15 plus/minus rating … Was third on the squad with 41 penalty minutes … Recorded four multi-goal games and totaled nine multi-point outings during the year … Tallied multiple goals in a period twice (Nov. 10 at ASU, 3rd; March 22 vs. SCSU, 2nd) … Made his collegiate debut on Oct. 7 at Alaska Fairbanks … Recorded his first career point with an assist on Nov. 3 vs. Colorado College and scored his first goal, the game-winner, the next night on Nov. 4 at CC … Had a six-game goal streak from Nov. 4-24 (7g/1a), the longest stretch by a DU player since Dylan Gambrell had a seven-game goal run from Feb. 13-March 5, 2016 (8g/14a) … Scored 14 goals in a 14-game stretch from Nov. 4-Jan. 13 and registered a career-long 11-game point streak from Nov. 3-Dec. 9 (11g/4a) … Had his first career multi-goal performance on Nov. 10 at Arizona State (1g/1a) … Scored the game-winning goal on Nov. 24 vs. Yale and had an assist and a season-high +4 plus/minus rating the next day against the Bulldogs … Recognized as the NCHC Rookie of the Week four times, including picking up consecutive awards on Nov. 13 and Nov. 20 to become the first Denver player to repeat as a weekly conference winner since Magnus Chrona with Goaltender of the Week on Jan. 17 and 24, 2022 … Named NCHC Rookie of the Month for November after leading all conference freshmen with seven goals and ranking second among rookies with 10 points (7g/3a) in eight games … Did not play on Dec. 2 vs. North Dakota due to an illness … Scored two goals in each game at Western Michigan on Dec. 8-9 … Had a three-game goal streak from Jan. 6-13 … Tallied and fired nine shots on goal on Feb. 24 vs. Miami, the most shots in a game during the year by a Pioneer and the most since Massimo Rizzo had 10 on Oct. 29, 2022 at Miami … Named to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team after combining for four points (3g/1a) in two games in St. Paul, Minn. … Tallied twice in the overtime victory in the NCHC semifinals vs. St. Cloud State on March 22 before producing a goal and an assist in the conference tournament final on March 23 vs. Omaha … Made his NCAA Tournament debut in the Northeast Regional Semifinals vs. Massachusetts on March 28 … Named to the Regional All-Tournament Team after notching the game-tying goal in the NCAA Regional Final vs. Cornell on March 30, his 20th marker of the campaign … Recorded an assist on the game-tying goal in a 2-1 overtime win vs. Boston University in the NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals on April 11 … Fired three shots in the NCAA Championship Game vs. Boston College on April 13 … Attended the Arizona Coyotes’ development camp in summer 2023.
 
Before Denver: Split the 2022-23 campaign between the Madison Capitols and Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL, finishing tied for 19th in the league with 55 total points (27g/28a) … Started the season by tallying 16 goals and adding 19 assists for 35 points in 28 games with Madison before being acquired by Waterloo in a trade on Jan. 15 and registering 20 points (11g/9a) in 30 contests … Appeared in three USHL postseason outings for the Black Hawks … Registered 33 points with 19 goals and 14 assists in 30 regular-season games for Jokerit’s U20 junior squad in 2021-22 … Also appeared in two postseason contests … Played 19 contests with Jokerit junior in 2020-21, registering 15 points (7g/8a), and tallied three goals in two contests with the club’s U18 squad that year … Represented Finland in seven games and had four points (1g/3a) at the 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship … Had 29 goals and 25 assists for 54 points in 46 outings with Jokerit’s U18 team in 2019-20 … Won a silver medal in 2018-19 while playing for Jokerit’s U16 club … Attended the Arizona Coyotes’ summer development camp in summer 2022.
 
Personal: Son of Matti and Mari Matikka … Has a sister, Milli … Graduated high school from PHYK in 2022 … Also likes to play basketball … Ranked No. 32 among international skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2022 draft.
 
Why DU: “It’s the best hockey team in college. Getting a chance to be part of a team with this much history is something that doesn’t happen too often, and I really appreciate the opportunity.”