The 40-year-old Triple Gold Club member is probably heading back to his old club

Finnish second-division club Jokerit has called a press-conference for Monday, August 19, at which they are expected to announce the signing of 40-year-old Valtteri Filppula, Finnish media outlet Ilta-Sanomat reported on Thursday.

The scheduled start time of 11:51 AM Eastern European Time (4:51 AM EDT) was apparently chosen in reference to Filppula’s uniform number 51.

Filppula, who hails from the Helsinki suburb of Vantaa, played for Jokerit from age 16 to 21, starting in the U18 category and eventually playing two full pro seasons with the club. Other than a 16-game stint back with Jokerit during the 2012 NHL lockout, Filppula has played abroad ever since, either in the NHL or in Switzerland.

Filppula played 16 NHL seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders between 2005 and 2021, winning a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008. He’s played the last three seasons for Genève-Servette HC in Switzerland’s National League, where he helped the team win its first-ever national title and the Champions Hockey League.

Internationally, Filppula has represented Finland at three IIHF World Championships and two Winter Olympics. After captaining Finland to Olympic and World Championship gold medals mere months apart in 2022, he became a member of hockey’s Triple Gold Club.

This June, Filppula won the Warrior Career Excellence Award at the European Hockey Awards. In July, Filppula was reported to be considering either returning to play in Helsinki or retiring.

Once one of Finland’s top hockey clubs, Jokerit joined the KHL in 2014. After reportedly losing an average of 13 million euros over eight seasons, Jokerit pulled out of the league in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Facing bankruptcy, Jokerit sat out the 2022-23 season and returned to play in the Mestis, Finland’s second-tier pro league, last year.