Jonathan Lekkerimaki - Arrived in Abbotsford

[ziploc]

Excited to have this player hopefully make the team out of training camp (I predict he will). He will be a game changer for our power play because he can one time the puck from the left side much better (imo) than Boeser or Miller, who play in that spot on the PP. Once Lekk starts sniping from the left side, the PK will have to start defending more of that area, which will mean more room for Pettersson to unleash his deadly one timer.

Who does he bump from the roster? Unless a trade is made, I can't see him making the team out of training camp. But he could be an early injury call up.

 

[F A N]

Excited to have this player hopefully make the team out of training camp (I predict he will). He will be a game changer for our power play because he can one time the puck from the left side much better (imo) than Boeser or Miller, who play in that spot on the PP. Once Lekk starts sniping from the left side, the PK will have to start defending more of that area, which will mean more room for Pettersson to unleash his deadly one timer.

Miller is the playmaker on the PP though. The PP mostly runs through Miller and Hughes. Based on last year's configuration, Boeser is likely back in the bumper position.

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Lowkey I think he makes the team out of training camp, and him being a dark horse for the Calder.

Heinen-Miller-Boeser
Debrusk-EP-Lekk/Sprong
Joshua-Blueger-Garland
Hoglander-Suter-Sherwood/Pods

 

[VanJack]

Lowkey I think he makes the team out of training camp, and him being a dark horse for the Calder.

Heinen-Miller-Boeser
Debrusk-EP-Lekk/Sprong
Joshua-Blueger-Garland
Hoglander-Suter-Sherwood/Pods

That would be an absolute perfect scenario, although unlikely. But Allvin seems to be a believer. He claims Lekkerimki is going to get a long look at training camp and into the exhibition schedule. I suspect he'll get a lot of PP time, to see if he can replicate some of his scoring exploits from along the half wall.

 

[HockeyWooot]

Will need to temper expectations, but becoming a second line scoring winger doesn’t seem unrealistic.

 

[F A N]

Been a lot of talk about him in other threads so bumping this up. How's he looking?

That 2022 draft isn't looking very good. Usually that means that a lot of prospects/players from that draft are overrated...

 

[bossram]

As a 19 year old last season, Lekkermaki led his team in scoring, and was 6th in the league in goal scoring. He scored 16.5% of his teams goals on a low scoring Orebro team. By that measure, he was the best goal scorer in the league. His season in the SHL is suggestive of an elite or near elite prospect, as very few 19 year olds have accomplished what he did in the SHL. He certainly is not far from elite. I would put him in the same class as Boeser.

He is not in the same class of prospect as Boeser. In Brock's D+1, he was one of the best players in college hockey. In his D+3, he was a top line forward for Vancouver. Lekk is in his D+3 right now. This is not the same trajectory.

Lekk is also largely a perimeter shooter with below-average size. That kind of game is going to be a more difficult transition to the NHL.

He had the kind of season last year that I would expect an SHL-drafted 1st rounder to have in his D+2.

 

[Bleach Clean]

He is not in the same class of prospect as Boeser. In Brock's D+1, he was one of the best players in college hockey. In his D+3, he was a top line forward for Vancouver. Lekk is in his D+3 right now. This is not the same trajectory.

Lekk is also largely a perimeter shooter with below-average size. That kind of game is going to be a more difficult transition to the NHL.

He had the kind of season last year that I would expect an SHL-drafted 1st rounder to have in his D+2.

All fair, but the mono season has to factor in here.

 

[bossram]

All fair, but the mono season has to factor in here.

I'm pretty much not factoring the mono season into my evaluation.

His D+2 was good, but not elite. He's tracking as you'd expect a mid-1st to look, but it's not exceptional.

You'd probably want him to be pushing for NHL time right now to be considered a "high-end" or "blue chip" prospect.

 

[Bleach Clean]

I'm pretty much not factoring the mono season into my evaluation.

His D+2 was good, but not elite. He's tracking as you'd expect a mid-1st to look, but it's not exceptional.

You'd probably want him to be pushing for NHL time right now to be considered a "high-end" or "blue chip" prospect.

Fair points. I don't think he's of the calibre of Boeser, whom I view as a 1st line winger. But there's a range between Boeser and what could be a top6 RW.

I'm still waiting for him to push his style from his SHL game more toward what we expect with NA hockey. It hasn't happened yet.

 

[Spectrefire]

His D+2 was good, but not elite. He's tracking as you'd expect a mid-1st to look, but it's not exceptional.

Good but not elite???

lmao

He led his team in both points and goalscoring and was tied for 6th in goals across the entire SHL as a 19 year old.

That's literally top-10 draft pick level of production.

Were you expecting him to hop over mid season and win a Vezina and Norris on top of it as well???

 

[bossram]

Fair points. I don't think he's of the calibre of Boeser, whom I view as a 1st line winger. But there's a range between Boeser and what could be a top6 RW.

I'm still waiting for him to push his style from his SHL game more toward what we expect with NA hockey. It hasn't happened yet.

Part of the evaluation is that even if he hits as a 2nd line calibre winger (I think 1st line is not that likely), this type of asset (a perimeter, smallish, offense-only winger) has shown to be not that valuable relative to other player archetypes.

 

[bossram]

Good but not elite???

lmao

He led his team in both points and goalscoring and was tied for 6th in goals across the entire SHL as a 19 year old.

That's literally top-10 draft pick level of production.

Were you expecting him to hop over mid season and win a Vezina and Norris on top of it as well???

No, it really is not elite. Lekkerimaki was a ~0.66 PPG SHL player in his D+2. Coupled with a qualitative evaluation that his perimeter shooting (and PP heavy offense) game is likely to have difficulty transitioning to the NHL level (and we've seen him have a slow start at the AHL level). No, he's not an elite prospect. He's a good one.

Petey was the undisputed best player in the SHL in his D+1. Nylander was a point-per-game player in the SHL in his D+1. Lucas Raymond was a top-six NHL forward in his D+2. Leo Carlsson barely produced less than Lekk in his draft season and was an NHL top-six forward in his D+1. These are more the levels of progress you'd want to see from an elite prospect, or one you would project to be a top-line player.

 

[arttk]

No, it really is not elite. Lekkerimaki was a ~0.66 PPG SHL player in his D+2. Coupled with a qualitative evaluation that his perimeter shooting (and PP heavy offense) game is likely to have difficulty transitioning to the NHL level (and we've seen him have a slow start at the AHL level). No, he's not an elite prospect. He's a good one.

Petey was the undisputed best player in the SHL in his D+1. Nylander was a point-per-game player in the SHL in his D+1. Lucas Raymond was a top-six NHL forward in his D+2. Leo Carlsson barely produced less than Lekk in his draft season and was an NHL top-six forward in his D+1. These are more the levels of progress you'd want to see from an elite prospect, or one you would project to be a top-line player.

I think if you want to compare Nylander and Lekk at the same age, it would be Lekk's D2 vs Nylander's D1. Nylander also was not the top scorer on his SHL team (even though he didn't play the full season) while Lekk was the top scorer for Orebro. Their performance in the U20 was very similar but Lekk got the MVP. I think just look at that they are very comparable. Of course Nyalnder did well once he hit the AHL so we'll see soon enough if Lekk has that in him.

I think his PP skill is his most transferrable skills. He probably has the best shot on the team and just having that would makes him a good PP1 weapon.

I agree he is 100% not on the same level as Petey, Carlsson. I think he is probably closer to Raymond's level and for now, stats wise he is not that far off of Nylander at a similar age.

 

[Blue and Green]

I think if you want to compare Nylander and Lekk at the same age, it would be Lekk's D2 vs Nylander's D1. Nylander also was not the top scorer on his SHL team (even though he didn't play the full season) while Lekk was the top scorer for Orebro. Their performance in the U20 was very similar but Lekk got the MVP. I think just look at that they are very comparable. Of course Nyalnder did well once he hit the AHL so we'll see soon enough if Lekk has that in him.

I think his PP skill is his most transferrable skills. He probably has the best shot on the team and just having that would makes him a good PP1 weapon.

I agree he is 100% not on the same level as Petey, Carlsson. I think he is probably closer to Raymond's level and for now, stats wise he is not that far off of Nylander at a similar age.

Lekkerimaki wasn't/isn't close to Nylander at the same ages. Not on stats, not on visible skills. Nylander was far more dynamic, a much better puck carrier. Lekkerimaki is a complimentary guy.

Nylander was almost PPG in the SHL in the first half of his D+1, then went to the AHL for the second half and did very well. He was already a useful NHLer late in his D+2 and had a nice season in his D+3.

 

[arttk]

Lekkerimaki wasn't/isn't close to Nylander at the same ages. Not on stats, not on visible skills. Nylander was far more dynamic, a much better puck carrier. Lekkerimaki is a complimentary guy.

Nylander was almost PPG in the SHL in the first half of his D+1, then went to the AHL for the second half and did very well. He was already a useful NHLer late in his D+2 and had a nice season in his D+3.

Lekk was equally dynamic as Nylander in the SHL and u20 at a similar age. I think Lekk’s physically development is behind Nylander at a similar age and who knows if that is due to him having mono and concussions in his D+1. It’s not really useful to compare them at D+N stage considering Nylander is one of the oldest in his draft class and Lekk. If they were in the same draft they would be almost a year apart and a year in dev time is huge at that age.

 

[Blue and Green]

Lekk was equally dynamic as Nylander in the SHL and u20 at a similar age. I think Lekk’s physically development is behind Nylander at a similar age and who knows if that is due to him having mono and concussions in his D+1. It’s not really useful to compare them at D+N stage considering Nylander is one of the oldest in his draft class and Lekk. If they were in the same draft they would be almost a year apart and a year in dev time is huge at that age.

Nylander was born May 1.

 

[arttk]

Nylander was born May 1.

Well never mind then, read it wrong my bad

 

[bossram]

I think if you want to compare Nylander and Lekk at the same age, it would be Lekk's D2 vs Nylander's D1. Nylander also was not the top scorer on his SHL team (even though he didn't play the full season) while Lekk was the top scorer for Orebro. Their performance in the U20 was very similar but Lekk got the MVP. I think just look at that they are very comparable. Of course Nyalnder did well once he hit the AHL so we'll see soon enough if Lekk has that in him.

I think his PP skill is his most transferrable skills. He probably has the best shot on the team and just having that would makes him a good PP1 weapon.

I agree he is 100% not on the same level as Petey, Carlsson. I think he is probably closer to Raymond's level and for now, stats wise he is not that far off of Nylander at a similar age.

Why would I compare Lekk's D+2 to Nylander's D+1? That's dumb. It's not the same age. Nylander was a superior player in the SHL a year earlier in his development. In the same season he was a top AHL player. In his D+2 Nylander dominated the AHL and then became a top-six NHLer for good.

Your criticism of Nylander "not leading his team in scoring" in the SHL is also incredibly disingenuous. The top scorer on his MODO team had 25 points. Nylander had 20 points in 21 games. That was a very low scoring team and Nylander was very clearly the best player. If he stays the full season he leads the team in scoring by a mile.

They are not comparable as prospects. Nylander post draft seasons were unquestionably superior. Your arguments regarding their post-draft development really do not hold any water.

Part of my evaluation of Lekk, as I said already, is that he is too PP reliant. Being a PP weapon does not hold that much value to me. Daniel Sprong is a PP weapon. He's still a journeyman NHLer.

 

[bossram]

Lekk was equally dynamic as Nylander in the SHL and u20 at a similar age. I think Lekk’s physically development is behind Nylander at a similar age and who knows if that is due to him having mono and concussions in his D+1. It’s not really useful to compare them at D+N stage considering Nylander is one of the oldest in his draft class and Lekk. If they were in the same draft they would be almost a year apart and a year in dev time is huge at that age.

Like no, this is literally just wrong.

 

[arttk]

Like no, this is literally just wrong.

Yeah I said I was wrong

 

[bossram]

Yeah I said I was wrong

The premises of your other arguments were also mostly wrong.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I still think Lekk will be a food player

 

[Bleach Clean]

Part of the evaluation is that even if he hits as a 2nd line calibre winger (I think 1st line is not that likely), this type of asset (a perimeter, smallish, offense-only winger) has shown to be not that valuable relative to other player archetypes.

I think if he hits at a 2nd line overall level, he's doing it with a 1st line caliber shot and PP ability. That type of asset is valuable, but it would be more valuable to the team that it would be in trade.

 

[bossram]

I think if he hits at a 2nd line overall level, he's doing it with a 1st line caliber shot and PP ability. That type of asset is valuable, but it would be more valuable to the team that it would be in trade.

I get what you're saying, but I really don't value players whose only plus-level trait is open-look shooting. It's not something they'll get many chances to exploit at the NHL level. The fear is they're kinda like an Alex Holtz or Teemu Pulkinnen. They'll need to be able to bring something else or manufacture chances in other ways.

You can pretty easily acquire softish, smallish, 2nd line forwards on the trade and UFA market.