Prospect Info: Jonathan Lekkerimaki, #15 Overall, 2022 NHL Draft

[shottasasa]

Something about the timeline doesn't measure up for me, to use that as the main explanation. He had mono in late March. But had an absolutely monster U18 in late April. Mediocre in August...

However, the same thing happened to Couturier. Many on HF thought it might be regression rather than mono side effects, I did as well.

I heard someone mention that it’s the after effects of Mono along with all of the travel and stress around being drafted, Canucks dev camp and then heading back for the tourney. Obviously we don’t really know how much that affected him, but that’s an action packed summer regardless.

 

[Canucks LB]

Most of Lekkerimaki's highlights continue to come on the power play.
While this is fine, I feel if he does not show well 5 on 5 in the next few years, I think it's fair to be concerned.

Obviously he is way to young right now to worry about this, but something to monitor.

 

[Canucks LB]

Anybody know how lekkerimaki is doing in the preseason?

 

[VIPettersson]

Anybody know how lekkerimaki is doing in the preseason?

From what I've read it didn't seem optimistic. Haven't read any recent reports however but it seemed like Ostlund was on the 1st line as a winger. But Lekkerimaki was being slotted in on the 4th line for practices. Its just the pre-season though so I'm not overly worried.

 

[Casper The Soy Ghost]

Steal of the draft.

I've seen him a lot as a Djurgården fan.

He declined to sign for an SHL team this season, one of the top contenders (Rögle) who made it to the semifinals of the playoffs last season.

I think him playing in Allsvenskan will be better for him. Djurgården are forced to give him and the kids a bigger role since they got demoted and they don't have the money to sign a bunch of stars.

Also he will be playing on the same team as Kruger who has won 2 Stanley Cups. Hopefully he will learn a lot from Kruger.

He will be a top 6 FWD with a lot of PP time, you guys should be super excited for those reasons alone.

IMO Lekkerimäki should've been a top 8 pick in the draft. Dude has such an amazing shot, he's a very good skater and he has great hockey-IQ. I could definitely see him put up 35+35 in his prime in the NHL.

 

[Get North]

I would trade him for help today. This pick seems like a far stretch with Boeser, Klimovich, Garland, Mikheyev, etc and even more capable of playing RW. How many homegrown wingers can you draft... and keep for years?

Start accumulating young D like Schenn. The strong, quiet type. We got enough Hughes breed in OEL/Rathbone/etc.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

I would trade him for help today. This pick seems like a far stretch with Boeser, Klimovich, Garland, Mikheyev, etc and even more capable of playing RW. How many homegrown wingers can you draft... and keep for years?

Start accumulating young D like Schenn. The strong, quiet type. We got enough Hughes breed in OEL/Rathbone/etc.

No way no how my good sir

You bring in Levi at entry level to trade aging guys making dollars for solid assets

It’s a crazy thing we as Canucks fans haven’t been exposed to but it’s called management

 

[VanJack]

Lekkerimaki basically fell into their laps at #15 overall.....it helps a little in overcoming the sting of passing on Dylan Guenther, the 2021 #9 pick surrendered to Arizona in the OEL trade, who's going to be a stud for the 'Yotes.

The last thing you'd do now would be trade Lekkermaki for immediate help.

 

[SurferBroChad]

Lekkerimaki basically fell into their laps at #15 overall.....it helps a little in overcoming the sting of passing on Dylan Guenther, the 2021 #9 pick surrendered to Arizona in the OEL trade, who's going to be a stud for the 'Yotes.

The last thing you'd do now would be trade Lekkermaki for immediate help.

they were super high on him. i dont think he gets traded. they are aware he's got holes in his game but the offensive skills he has are what some consider unteachable

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

they were super high on him. i dont think he gets traded. they are aware he's got holes in his game but the offensive skills he has are what some consider unteachable

It would be pretty dramatic to give up on a kid 3 Months later, who has played 10 games while having Mono

Which if you don’t believe there is a really weird coincidence of Canucks draft picks getting mono shortly after draft then you are you even a fan ?

 

[SurferBroChad]

It would be pretty dramatic to give up on a kid 3 Months later, who has played 10 games while having Mono

Which if you don’t believe there is a really weird coincidence of Canucks draft picks getting mono shortly after draft then you are you even a fan ?

its a rite of passage

 

[PuckMunchkin]

It would be pretty dramatic to give up on a kid 3 Months later, who has played 10 games while having Mono

Which if you don’t believe there is a really weird coincidence of Canucks draft picks getting mono shortly after draft then you are you even a fan ?

He had mono before the draft.

Or.. Maybe there is a joke I am missing here?

 

[Hammman]

He had mono before the draft.

Or.. Maybe there is a joke I am missing here?

Good question. It was still affecting him after the draft, but we knew about it earlier.

 

[biturbo19]

they were super high on him. i dont think he gets traded. they are aware he's got holes in his game but the offensive skills he has are what some consider unteachable

Yeah. For better or worse, he's a guy that they aren't going to move on from. Teams are always "shocked he fell to us" at the draft...but with Lekkerimaki, it felt a lot more genuine than just lipservice. I really got the impression they may have had him Top-10 on their draft board. They seem fully convinced they got an absolute steal there.

Time will tell how true that is. But i get the sense they'd absolutely prefer to move future picks over this guy. Whether i see it or not with him, there are a lot of people who do love his "upside". A lot of it is the same issues we see with Boeser though...where he's obviously capable of being a gamebreaking NHL goal-scorer...i just question how the overall impact weighs out when there isn't a lot of anything else there. Tough players to really build around sustainably imo.

 

[JanBulisPiggyBack]

With all three of Ostlund, Ohgren and Lekkimaki on the board they would have had ample viewings of those three to be able to make their preferred decision and I think this will be an excellent identifier of the strength of our scouting/analytics department at the beginning of the new management.

 

[Phrasing]

Yeah. For better or worse, he's a guy that they aren't going to move on from. Teams are always "shocked he fell to us" at the draft...but with Lekkerimaki, it felt a lot more genuine than just lipservice. I really got the impression they may have had him Top-10 on their draft board. They seem fully convinced they got an absolute steal there.

Time will tell how true that is. But i get the sense they'd absolutely prefer to move future picks over this guy. Whether i see it or not with him, there are a lot of people who do love his "upside". A lot of it is the same issues we see with Boeser though...where he's obviously capable of being a gamebreaking NHL goal-scorer...i just question how the overall impact weighs out when there isn't a lot of anything else there. Tough players to really build around sustainably imo.

There’s a video with a quote from Allvin that they had him 7th.



At about 5:10

 

[biturbo19]

There’s a video with a quote from Allvin that they had him 7th.



At about 5:10

Does not surprise me in the slightest. Teams always pump the tires on their new draft picks, especially high ones. Everyone always gets a guy "they had ranked top-10" or whatever. But in this case, i absolutely believe it. They can't hide their excitement about the guy. Seemed like they were pretty close to actually doing the proverbial, "sprinting to the podium".

 

[andora]

God that would be my dream job

 

[The Iron Goalie]

Lekkerimaki looking dangerous this morning. Has had multiple high danger chances, and could easily have a few goals. He just created a penalty shot (was so close to scoring)...and his coach gave the PS to another player (such a terrible rule).

*side note* - Lekkerimaki's 2nd PP linemates showed some of the worst offensive decision making I think I've ever seen. They just carry the puck in and shoot...every...time, and if they do get setup in zone...low% shots are the go to play.

 

[VanJack]

Lekkerimaki is scheduled to play this season with Djurgardens in the second division Allvesnskan. But I was wondering about player movement between leagues in Sweden.

Is their any chance Lekkerimaki could be sold or traded to a team in the first division SHL? The step up in competition might be just what he needs later in the season.

 

[RutherPlan]

Lekkerimaki is scheduled to play this season with Djurgardens in the second division Allvesnskan. But I was wondering about player movement between leagues in Sweden.

Is their any chance Lekkerimaki could be sold or traded to a team in the first division SHL? The step up in competition might be just what he needs later in the season.

Poster above said he declined to play in the SHL, rightfully so, he just turned 18 years old and should have 1 year to play in the AHL of Sweden and then play 1 year in the SHL before turning pro.

 

[Baby Pettersson]

Does not surprise me in the slightest. Teams always pump the tires on their new draft picks, especially high ones. Everyone always gets a guy "they had ranked top-10" or whatever. But in this case, i absolutely believe it. They can't hide their excitement about the guy. Seemed like they were pretty close to actually doing the proverbial, "sprinting to the podium".

I saw a zoomed in screen grab of their draft list during draft day and he was indeed ranked 6th or 7th overall for them.

 

[bbud]

they were super high on him. i dont think he gets traded. they are aware he's got holes in his game but the offensive skills he has are what some consider unteachable

You dont find natural scorers easy hold let him develop way too many lessons about letting a kid go and getting burned .

 

[DFAC]

With all three of Ostlund, Ohgren and Lekkimaki on the board they would have had ample viewings of those three to be able to make their preferred decision and I think this will be an excellent identifier of the strength of our scouting/analytics department at the beginning of the new management.

Wasn't JL consistently ranked higher than the other 2? He was going in the top 10 in most pre draft lists I saw whereas Ohgren and Ostlund were usually in the 15-25 range

 

[Dala]

Östlund looks a lot better right now (pace, skills, anticipation), but might have trouble adapting his style to NHL? Lekk has a bigger frame, could have an "easier" path?

Both very talented though.