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

[John Johnson]

View attachment 566075

That gif is in reverse lol

 

[I Hart Conor Garland]

That gif is in reverse lol

You’re in reverse

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Lekkerimaki Pettersson Podkolzin
Hoglander Horvat Boeser

Let's go for the next decade

Personally, I prefer the decade of:

Cassels - Hodgson - Rodin
Shinkaruk - Schroeder - Jensen

 

[strattonius]

What an excellent pick.

I was happy for Alvin tonight. Gets his first taste of the big stage that is the draft. Didn't make a mistake on rushing a trade. Then gets a fellow Swede prospect fall in to his lap.

 

[Peen]

Personally, I prefer the decade of:

Cassels - Hodgson - Rodin
Shinkaruk - Schroeder - Jensen

 

[I Hart Conor Garland]

Personally, I prefer the decade of:

Cassels - Hodgson - Rodin
Shinkaruk - Schroeder - Jensen

This has to have been posted before. It’s way too realistic to be a joke.

That said, it wouldn’t have been Cole Cassels, the McDavid stopper, on wing.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Lol iMac is such a dumbass

 

[Josepho]

Not really a fan of all these "lacks hockey sense" scouting reports I'm reading.

Drance made a good point in the Vancast - these shoot-first, goal-scoring prospects only really work out if they are *elite*. Eg, Stamkos. Without that, you're in this Jake Virtanen/Owen Tippet/Eeli Tolvanen mushy middle. Actually another guy who comes to mind in this vein is Grabner, who did end up carving out a half decent NHL career.

Grabner basically formed his entire NHL career out of being fast not out of his shot. He actually had a bit of a reputation of being a terrible finisher for a while.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

He is definitely not slow, dude is out to lunch.

He is small and slight and does not have the skating to compensate for that.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Grabner basically formed his entire NHL career out of being fast not out of his shot. He actually had a bit of a reputation of being a terrible finisher for a while.

I mean, that was his junior career too.

 

[Cornwallace]

I'm fine with the Lekkerimaki pick, but probably would have liked to see them move down a bit.

Kinda feels like this draft was a bit of a crapshoot too so maybe getting a player they held in high regard was the right move.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

I'm not really loving it, either.

There's obviously talent there, but slightly-built one-dimensional shooters who aren't elite skaters aren't really a high-value commodity even if he hits. There's a reason he fell.

We entered today with zilch in the system in terms of C and D, and we leave today with zilch in the system at C and D.

Earlier today I disagreed with a proposal of 27 and 33 for 15. After seeing what was available when we picked (a bunch of small skill wingers), I actually would have done that deal and taken my chance with 2 of Howard/Mesar/Kulich/Lambert/Firkus over one Lekkerimaki. I don't think there's a huge difference in level of talent from the guy we picked to that big group of guys 15 picks later.

Also he has the bust-iest name in the entire first round with that 8-syllable mouthful.

As McK pointed out, some scouts had him rated as high as 4OA......some as low as 17 OA...Regardless,any player that is a natural scorer, that can translate to the NHL ,is going to have a good currency.

Also...this is the player they targeted, and wanted....A good pick at 15..IMO

 

[bossram]

I get that Lekkerimaki's consensus rankings were higher, but he really wasn't my favourite there at 15.

He has an elite shot. No one disputes that. But he has generally poor offensive habits, really is more of a "perimeter player", and even his off-puck reads to get into scoring positions aren't frequent enough for a pure-shooter type. Physical game is non-existent. I don't think he (currently) has NHL habits.

But the shot is there. At the high-high-high end, maybe you end up with someone like a Pastrnak or Laine. Probably more realistically he's a Hoffman-type player if he makes the NHL - which I'd argue isn't that valuable of a player.

I was higher on Ohgren or Pickering at the spot, given who was available.

 

[Vector]

Cam Robinson described him as having above average NHL speed and Corey Pronman says he’s average. Calling him slow seems to be disingenuous.

 

[sting101]

i'm disappointed and skeptical. Dont see the skating to be a dynamic player and if your just a slight 20-30 goal scorer that needs PP timet to do it and dont drive offense that's a complete waste of a 15OA as far as i'm concerned. The comps i heard were slower smaller Nylander and Raymond light.....really?

This team needed a C or defenseman . I would have offered 15 to Mtl for the 26 and 33 and would have Kulich C and Chesley. RD. if this was the plan.

Hope i'm wrong seems were hoping for Eberle........yay

Minny did outstanding getting Ohgren and Yurov so late. Imagine drafting size and play driving in the 1st round.

Buffalo Savoie Ostlund Kulich wow

 

[Orca Smash]

I think Boeser and Caufield have huge warts in their games. DeBrincat ... well, we'll see how effective he is without Patrick Kane, but at any rate, 51G 50A in his draft year isn't quite the Cy Young statlines Lekkerimaki has been posting. Neither was Boeser's, tbh.

Sure what players don't have warts? I'm responding to you quoting drance about tippets and Virtanen.

I'm not a huge boeser fan but boeser was a Calder finalist and Caufield will be fine, guy still put up 43 points and 23 goals in 67 games on a terrible team where they were doing nothing until the coach got fired at age 21. Not sure what your expecting at 15.

His shooting and stick handling is high end and hes def a much better skater then boeser imo. Those were just examples off the top of my head. You can look at any shoot first NHL goal scorers and make comparisons good or bad. Also your comparing debrincat numbers in a jr league to a 17 year old who played half his games in a men's league. Also if production as a teenager always indicated draft success, drafting would be easy, sebastian aho had 11 points in 27 games playing in finland in his draft year, nothing eye popping compared to lekkerimaki either. Caufield scored over a goal a game in his draft year but you dont seem to be as big of fan...every player is different and has a different trajectory unless you have all the tools and the production like a mcdavid or stamkos.

i'm disappointed and skeptical. Dont see the skating to be a dynamic player and if your just a slight 20-30 goal scorer that needs PP timet to do it and dont drive offense that's a complete waste of a 15OA as far as i'm concerned. The comps i heard were slower smaller Nylander and Raymond light.....really?

This team needed a C or defenseman . I would have offered 15 to Mtl for the 26 and 33 and would have Kulich C and Chesley. RD.

Hope i'm wrong seems were hoping for Eberle........yay

Minny did outstanding getting Ohgren and Yurov so late. Imagine drafting size and play driving in the 1st round

Really Nylander and Raymond are fantastic players imo even if he is slower (although he still doesn't seem slow to me, still confused by these comments, but nylander is an excellent skater). Was not sold at all on ohgren don't see high end skill but won't doubt Brackett for now. I do see a solid NHL player though. Infact if we took ohgren I'm likely sounding more like you.

I'm not sure what you want at 15...expectations are crazy what you are looking for out of a player.

 

[Johnny Canucker]

This board is hilarious.

“I was really hoping we would draft xxxx if he was still left”

“We got a good pick, I had xxxx going a lot higher”.


Meanwhile that player plays for HC Škoda Plzeň and the poster have literally never seen 1 full game of that player.

 

[Aphid Attraction]

This board is hilarious.

“I was really hoping we would draft xxxx if he was still left”

“We got a good pick, I had xxxx going a lot higher”.


Meanwhile that player plays for HC Škoda Plzeň and the poster have literally never seen 1 full game of that player.

Your best post here IMO

 

[cc]

It looks like other teams focused on drafting C and D players, I think the Canucks picked the best player available regardless of position which is what I prefer

He is by no means a finished product but his strengths are very hard to teach or develop. I think his deficiencies can be worked on successfully with a capable developmental team.

One thing I love about him is that he looks like he can score in many different ways. He has a lot of weapons in his arsenal

 

[sting101]

Sure what players don't have warts? I'm responding to you quoting drance about tippets and Virtanen.

I'm not a huge boeser fan but boeser was a Calder finalist and Caufield will be fine. Not sure what your expecting at 15.

His shooting and stick handling is high end and hes def a much better skater then boeser imo. Those were just examples off the top of my head. You can look at any shoot first NHL goal scorers and make comparisons good or bad.


Really Nylander and Raymond are fantastic players imo even if he is slower (although he still doesn't seem slow to me, still confused by these comments, but nylander is an excellent skater). Was not sold at all on ohgren don't see high end skill but won't doubt Brackett for now. I do see a solid NHL player though.

I'm not sure what you want at 15...expectations are crazy.

agree it was a soft draft

guess i'm struggling with the end game and i'm just upset that we passed on Kulich Yurov Chesley Ohgren for a guy who i'm not convinced isn't another soft perimeter player.

It looks like other teams focused on drafting C and D players, I think the Canucks picked the best player available regardless of position which is what I prefer

He is by no means a finished product but his strengths are very hard to teach or develop. I think his deficiencies can be worked on successfully with a capable developmental team.

One thing I love about him is that he looks like he can score in many different ways. He has a lot of weapons in his arsenal

Yes he really is a smart talented deceptive skill player i hope he can translate it.

 

[Nucker42]

Got a guy who should have gone top 10. It’s a win and no one outside of the top 3-4 are locks beyond that it’s a crap shoot. But, JL had more goals than any U18 in the SHL. Also, only Kasper had more points. 11 for Kasper and 9 for JL however Kasper played roughly 20 more games. Different players but ripping up the Junior league and then scoring 7 goals in 25+ games in the SHL as one of the youngest players in the draft is impressive.

Every draft pendent saying this is a good pick. Faber, Robinson, Pronman etc….

 

[Tomatoes11]

He’s aight. Still very very concerned we are doing something really stupid like trading Myers and re signing all 3 of Boeser, miller, and Horvat and say we are done. Let’s compete.

We would be the biggest cap F’d laughing stocks if we did.

 

[Vector]

I’m not thrilled with the pick as I don’t see an organizational need and there’s far more small scoring wingers in the NHL than any other position. It’s also a perfectly defensible pick and I’m happy enough.

The big problem is that by not having a second round pick, we’re very limited to a bunch of dice rolls to better the prospect pool. A second tomorrow would go a long way to filling an organizational need.

 

[Bougieman]

I feel like some of these scouting talking points get repeated amongst the media and on social media without being verified, or taking into account who originally stated them, and if their opinion is worth listening to. For instance, I'm watching clip after clip of this kid, and I can't see any kind of glaring examples of poor skating, back hockey sense or poor passing.

I mean, sure, I'm not pretending to be an expert on him, since I haven't even watched a full game, but I'm just saying that we've seen this before, where too much credence is put on these repeated rumours that end up being total nonsense.

I'm not surprised to hear that he interviewed badly though. He was asked by Colby Armstrong how his interview with the Canucks went, and he sheepishly said "not so good". While obviously thrilled to be with the team (his hero is Petey) I think he was surprised to have landed here.

 

[pitseleh]

I'm not really loving it, either.

There's obviously talent there, but slightly-built one-dimensional shooters who aren't elite skaters aren't really a high-value commodity even if he hits. There's a reason he fell.

We entered today with zilch in the system in terms of C and D, and we leave today with zilch in the system at C and D.

Earlier today I disagreed with a proposal of 27 and 33 for 15. After seeing what was available when we picked (a bunch of small skill wingers), I actually would have done that deal and taken my chance with 2 of Howard/Mesar/Kulich/Lambert/Firkus over one Lekkerimaki. I don't think there's a huge difference in level of talent from the guy we picked to that big group of guys 15 picks later.

Also he has the bust-iest name in the entire first round with that 8-syllable mouthful.

Yeah, on the surface there are a lot of players available at those two Montreal picks that I would have been happy with at 15. Sounds like if Lekkerimaki weren’t available the team likely would have traded down too. Clearly they had him a tier (maybe two, given the leaked list) above everyone else. Good test for the new group.

I think Boeser and Caufield have huge warts in their games. DeBrincat ... well, we'll see how effective he is without Patrick Kane, but at any rate, 51G 50A in his draft year isn't quite the Cy Young statlines Lekkerimaki has been posting. Neither was Boeser's, tbh.

He did go 5-10-15 at the U18s and I’m not sure I would read too much into his Cy Young numbers in the SHL given he was playing fourth line minutes.