 He left HIFK to play in the American Hockey League with the Hartford Wolf Pack during the 2006-07 season.Pikkarainen saw action in seven AHL contests and played in eleven games for ECHL's Charlotte Checkers that year before returning to HIFK the following season.After another two years with HIFK, he embarked on a journeyman career including stints in the Swedish Hockey League with Modo Hockey, Skellefteå AIK, Leksands IF, two stints in the Kontinental Hockey League with HC Dynamo Minsk and Medvescak Zagreb and a stop at TPS in the Finnish Liiga, before joining back HIFK.