As the postseason approaches, the Youngstown Phantoms continue to tinker with their lineup, announcing a pair of transactions to start the week.

First came the signing of Finnish-born forward Matti Butkovskiy, who joins the program from Jukurit in Finland, where he scored 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in 33 games with the Jukurit U20 team. Butkovskiy also spent five games with the Jukurit main squad in Finland’s top-flight league.

The Finnish forward adds an element of size to the roster.

“He’s big. He’s massive, and skates really well and has a lot of offensive upside,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “He’s going to give us some length, which we need and will just be a piece of the puzzle here. We expect him to come in, and obviously it’ll be a little bit of adjustment, but he’s a proven point producer in the U20 league in Finland.”

Butkovskiy is with the Phantoms on a loan from Jukurit that’s expected to last for the rest of the season.

The Phantoms also announced a trade with Fargo on Tuesday, sending forward Kuzma Voronin, affiliate player Andrei Molgachev, a Phase I ninth-round draft pick and a Phase II second-round pick.

Highlighting the return to Youngstown is forward Peter Cisar, affiliate player Malachi McKinnon, a Phase I sixth-round pick and a Phase II fifth-round pick.

“Anytime you make trades, there’s a bittersweet part of it with guys that you know and you trade. The people that you’ve built relationships with,” Ward said. “But this was a situation where we felt like getting a player of Peter’s caliber (was too good to pass up.) His veteran leadership and physicality, the way he plays on both sides of the puck, he can score, he can check and he’s a proven winner. He’s a pretty complete player, so having the opportunity to add him to our lineup was something that we thought was important here coming down the stretch.

“We feel like we got a really good player in Malachi as well for the future. So the deal with Fargo, I thought, made sense for both teams. Kuzma will be able to get a little bit more opportunity, and I think Peter is going to come and fill a role that we feel like we needed to fill here before we go into the playoffs.”

Cisar is a 6-foot forward from Bratislava, Slovakia. Through 32 games with the Force, Cisar tallied 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) and wore a letter.

“I think he’s a 200-foot player. He makes plays, he’s got a good shot, he’s good around the net, he works extremely hard, he’s physical, he gets pucks,” Ward said. “He’s just someone that’s played in the league, knows how to win and he’s a complete 200-foot player that we feel can fill a big void for us.”

While from Slovakia, Cisar will not count toward the team’s import slots, due to spending three years with the Shattuck St. Mary’s program.

McKinnon plays for the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the British Columbia Hockey League this season and is expected to make the jump to the USHL next season.

Voronin, 18, has played with Youngstown in each of the last three seasons. Last year was his first full season with the Phantoms. This season in Youngstown, Voronin had 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 33 games.