Calgary Flames renounce rights to prospect Topi Ronni after receiving one-year suspended sentence for rape

The Calgary Flames have announced that the club has renounced the rights of prospect Topi Ronni after the 19-year-old received a one-year suspended sentence for rape in a Helsinki district court today.

Ronni’s club, Tappara Tampere, also released him from his contract today.

The conviction stems from an incident that occurred when Ronni was 17. As Elite Prospects’ Lassi Alanen reported, the ruling is not yet final.

Ronni took a leave of absence from Tappara Tampere in October 2023 after he was charged with rape. At the time, documents pertaining to the case were ordered not to be disclosed. The rape took place in summer 2021.

Tappara Tampere announced in October that Ronni had been suspended from team activities, but he returned to the team in November, Alanen Roni ended up playing an additional 10 games for them. In total, he has logged 22 games with the team this season, plus an additional 22 with Tappara Tampere’s under-20 squad. On Tuesday, the club announced it had terminated Ronni’s contract.

“Almost three years have passed since the incident and this time has been extremely difficult for everyone involved,” Ronni said in a statement issued by the team (translated from Finnish to English). “The publicity surrounding the case has felt overwhelming and has touched not only myself but also my family and loved ones. Involuntarily, the matter has also been connected to the Tappara community, as well as the Calgary Flames, who [drafted] me, and many others. I want to apologize for this to all those involved.”

The statement said the team and Ronni would “not comment further on the matter.

The Flames drafted Ronni, a center, in the second round, 59^th overall in 2022. According to TSN’s Rick Westhead, who reported on the closed-door trial last week, the Flames were not aware of any legal issue when they drafted him. Ronni was rated as their No. 8 prospect by Daily Faceoff last summer.