The Nashville Predators signed a forward on Thursday, just not the one every was hoping for.

Finnish free agent Markus Nurmi, a sixth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2016, signed a one-year entry-level contract with Nashville. He’s the fourth Finnish natve on the Predators roster joining Mikael Granlund, Eeli Tolvanen and Juuse Saros.

Fresh off the best season of his career, Nurmi tallied 20 goals and 39 points in 56 games with TPS of the Finnish Liiga, the top professional hockey league in Finland. In five-plus seasons with TPS, Nurmi totaled 63 goals and 136 points over 277 games. He was a teammate of Predators 2019 draft pick Juuso Parssinen the last four years.

The 23-year-old ranked second on the team in goal and fourth in assists in 2021, helping TPS reach the Liiga Finals for the second consecutive season. He led the league in postseason points (19), including four multi-point games.

The 6-foot-5, 196-pound winger also has plenty on international experience as well, placing fourth with Finland’s U17 team at the World U17 Hockey Challenge in 2014, earning gold with Finland’s U18 team at the International Ice Hockey Federation U18 World Championship in 2016, and a sixth-place finish with Finland in 2018 at the IIHF World Junior Championship.

Nurmi had a decorated junior career as well, tallying 80 goals and 159 points through 179 games with U20 SM-Liiga, U18 SM-Sarja, and U16 SM-Sarja (three levels of the Finnish junior leagues).

Follow Michael Gallagher on Twitter @MGsports_