Junkie

Yes he has signed.  
Here is my translation of the Finnish article:
"New player contract - versatile Jonas Häkkinen has signed with Vaasan Palloseura 
Vaasan Palloseura [VPS] has signed a player contract with the young Finnish player Jonas Häkkinen. The contract is 1+1 years. [unspecified whether the option is one way or two way] 
Jonas Häkkinen is a multi-functional player who owns both the Finnish and Canadian passports, and who can play both stopper and defensive midfielder. 
"For the last few years he has played stopper, but before that he has played defensive midfielder, as well", VPS head coach Petri Vuorinen comments. 
Häkkinen has played his entire career in Vancouver, where he has played in the Whitecaps academy. Häkkinen has Finnish parents and he speaks good Finnish, although his native tongue is English. 
"Jonas has trained with us for quite a while already. He came to Finland to uplift his career. Comparing him with other players of his generation (1999), I believe that he has the full potential to succeed in Finnish Premier League", Vuorinen analyzes. 
Very little about this promising player is known in Finland. Contact between the player and the club came through his agent. The youngster has trained with VPS for a month already. 
"The agent suggested that we give Jonas a trial. We decided to take him along and have been judging his play. In the last few years, many young players looking to develop have trialed for us. This time we found a good "match". I do not think many have heard of him here, even though he is Finnish. He is a new face for many here in that sense."
In addition to his playing skills, there is another thing Vuorinen specifically likes about Häkkinen. 
"He has a very tough but healthy attitude about sports and football in general. All that is right", Vuorinen comments. 
Jonas' own interview will be done during November. 
--------
Since it's my first post, I figure it's fine to use this space to say hello everybody, too. I am a VPS fan from Finland - a cold, stable Northern country, with an under-performing National Team with a history of promising players selecting some another country, and whose general public has an unhealthy obsession with this sticky-sport played on ice.
Suppose this description also explains to you all why I have somehow developed kind of a weird sympathetic affinity towards the "soccer people" in Canada, and hence I have been following your NT for the past few years, including lurking on this forum occasionally. So I figured that now that this guy signed with my local club team, it would be a good excuse to register here too. So I do hope you guys don't mind having me as an "outsider" for our countries are yet to develop a fierce rivalry in this sport. (Although I also wouldn't mind, if in the next few years one developed over Häkkinen's services at the senior level. )
---------
Would Jonas warrant his own thread, btw? Now that he's going to be playing here, I would be more than glad to contribute with updates on Jonas etc. since I watch every VPS game anyway.

There are plenty of young people who finish their BA, have debt and decide to go abroad to do internships in developing countries for next to no pay.  I would think of it as the same for footballers.  You need a sense of adventure, willingness to take a risk and an understanding that you are earning a meager living for the next year or more.  The payoff is that it gets you experience, and it might lead to something more sustainable.  If not - you took a chance, you are set back financially from if you stayed home, and you go back to living with your parents looking for that desk job that allows you to comb through Voyageurs forums on Monday mornings.  

Sure is, but for any kid that loves the sport and has the ambition to be a pro athlete (or even just wants to delay adulthood lol) it's probably more fun than work.

Think of the alternative for a young player from S. Ont. Live at home with the 'rents, work and/or go to school and play in L1O or CSL for free or small cash payments. This way they get to go live on their own with accomodation paid for, might get a cushy job through the club sponsors or owners, experience a different culture and all while playing at a level at least similar to L1O.

That's correct. We play long-ball too much for his liking, what a dumb ass...

Kristian Lee-Him is back with MNK Izola in the Slovenia 3rd Div.
they are 2-1-0 (he started all 3 for 90 min )
http://www.mnkizola.si/Pages/BetterNews/Povratnik_v_ekipo_je_Kanadčan_Kristian_Lee-Him.php

I don't see what is wrong with this move. A starter on a Spanish 3rd division club is not a bad place for a 21 year old Canadian player. He has left a bigger club but we do not know how much he was in their plans or in those of Dusseldorf before. If you look at the average league level of our national team players he is not that far below it in the Spanish 3rd division. A good season with Izarra and he could attract interest from the 2nd division which would put him at a level as high or higher than most of our national team starters. He is in a good pyramid and needs to play to showcase himself and move up it. He may or may not do so but I don't see this as a bad move at all.

Interview with Kristian Lee Him who plays for MNK Izola in the Slovenian 3rd tier
http://www.mnkizola.si/Pages/SingleNews.php?Novica=289