Ville Koistinen, who spent the past two seasons in Nashville and led all defenseman in scoring in the Finnish Elite League in 2005-06, was signed by the Panthers on Wednesday.

Koistinen, a 6-2, 200-pound native of Finland with excellent speed, played 86 games the past two seasons in Nashville, scoring seven goals and 21 points. He came to North American in 2006 after playing several seasons in Finland for Tampere, where he led the Finnish Elite League in scoring in 2005-06 among all defensemen with 34 points (eight goals).

Playing for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2006-07, Koistinen had 41 points (nine goals) in 59 games before missing 21 games with a concussion.