Filppula retired from professional hockey after 22 seasons, 16 in the NHL, on April 29, 2025. He played in the League between 2005 and 2021, including 10 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. He had 530 points (197 goals, 333 assists) in 1,056 games for the Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, and 86 points (25 goals, 61 assists) in 166 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

The native of Vantaa, Finland, won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008. He began playing pro hockey in 2003-04 for Jokerit in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. He left the NHL in 2021 after returning to the Red Wings for two seasons and played two more with Geneve-Servette in National League, the top pro league in Switzerland, before returning home to become player-owner of Jokerit in Mestis, Finland's second division.

He is a member of the "Triple Gold Club" as owner of a Stanley Cup ring and gold medals in the 2022 Beijing Olympics and the 2022 IIHF World Championship. The third-round pick of the Red Wings (No. 95) in the 2002 NHL Draft had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 22 playoff games during Detroit's run to the Cup.

Filppula twice finished third at the IIHF World Junior Championship (2003, 2004) and won bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He was an ideal complementary player who has filled various roles: scoring-line center, checking-line forward, penalty-killer defensive-zone face-offs and quarterbacking the power play, becoming a regular with the Red Wings during the 2006-07 season and signing a five-year contract with the Lightning on July 5, 2013.

Prior to Filppula's arrival, the Lightning made the playoffs once since 2007. They reached the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, his third Cup Final appearance, and the 2016 Eastern Conference Final.

Filppula was traded by the Lightning to the Flyers on March 1, 2017 and named an alternate captain with defenseman Andrew MacDonald before the 2017-18 season. He signed a one-year contract with the Islanders on July 1, 2018, and had 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists) while playing all forward positions and helping them advance to the Eastern Conference Second Round.

He returned to the Red Wings after signing a two-year contract July 1, 2019 and became the eighth Finland-born player to reach 1,000 NHL games in a 1-0 loss to the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena on Feb. 1, 2020.