Patrik Virta (born 6 March 1996) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who plays for Oulun Kärpät in Liiga. Virta was selected by the New York Rangers in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career Virta made his professional debut in his native Finland, appearing in the Liiga playing with his original youth club, HPK during the 2014–15 season.
Following a break out 2016–17 season with TPS, scoring 14 goals and 26 points in 49 contests, Virta was selected as an overage prospect by the New York Rangers in the seventh round, 208th overall, in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft on 26 June 2017. He continued his development in the 2017–18 season, matching his 14 goals scores while improving his offensive output to 40 points in 58 games.
Without a contract offer from the Rangers, Virta opted leave the Liiga and continue his development in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), securing a one-year contract with Slovak club, HC Slovan Bratislava, on 17 July 2018. Virta later reached a mutual contract termination with Slovan and signed with Örebro HK in the Swedish Hockey League. In joining Örebro during the 2018-19 season, Virta immediately adjusted within the team, scoring 7 goals and 15 points in 37 games.
On 19 June 2019, Virta returned to the Liiga as a free agent, agreeing to a two-year contract with Tappara.
Virta played four seasons with Tappara before leaving Finland to sign a one-year contract with German club, ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), on 14 June 2023.
Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2013–14 HPK Jr. A 32 15 14 29 8 3 0 0 0 2 2014–15 HPK Jr. A 43 29 46 75 55 12 10 5 15 10 2014–15 HPK Liiga 5 2 0 2 2 — — — — — 2015–16 TPS Jr. A 2 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2015–16 TPS Liiga 33 2 2 4 8 1 0 0 0 0 2015–16 TUTO Hockey Mestis 4 1 1 2 4 — — — — — 2015–16 SaPKo Mestis 7 2 2 4 2 5 2 2 4 0 2016–17 TPS Liiga 49 14 12 26 22 6 5 1 6 4 2017–18 TPS Liiga 58 14 26 40 24 8 2 1 3 0 2018–19 Slovan Bratislava KHL 21 2 7 9 6 — — — — — 2018–19 Örebro HK SHL 37 7 8 15 10 2 1 0 1 0 2019–20 Tappara Liiga 42 13 10 23 20 — — — — —2020–21TapparaLiiga56211536429000102021–22TapparaLiiga541719363815325122022–23TapparaLiiga416121824200002023–24ERC IngolstadtDEL4391120871124 Liiga totals 338 89 96 185 180 41 10 4 14 26
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