Jump to content

Jonathan Lekkerimäki | RW


Fanuck

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

Call me crazy, but I think Lekkerimäki makes the team out of training camp and pre-season. We desperately need another top 6 forward.  I can’t see us running Suter and Mikheyev in the top 6 next season. Hopefully Podkolzin takes another step as well.  I’d like to see Podkolzin playing with Miller…

I hope Podkolzin gets an opportunity with Miller. I don’t think he’s had an opportunity in the top six since his call up with the Canucks. Wonder why. 

  • Like 2
  • Cheers 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

Would love it if Lekkerimäki makes it to the big team. But I’m not holding my breath. I also don’t want to rush the young man. We need to develop Lekkerimäki correctly. Best route for him is Abby. He needs confidence. Let him cook! He could be an early call up for the Canucks. Depends on his play once he gets down to Abby. I’d be really surprised if Lekkerimäki makes it straight onto the big club. But I’d be happy if he makes it. 

So many UFA decisions. I don't believe in moving young players into the NHL without some time in the AHL. If Lekker blows the doors off in the pre-season then maybe a reconsider on timing that NHL debut. Strong Worlds and then what? 

  • Like 1
  • Cheers 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/11/2024 at 9:15 AM, Boudrias said:

So many UFA decisions. I don't believe in moving young players into the NHL without some time in the AHL. If Lekker blows the doors off in the pre-season then maybe a reconsider on timing that NHL debut. Strong Worlds and then what? 

I remember Shirokov had an amazing pre-season, but couldn't keep that going into the regular season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/11/2024 at 2:03 AM, N4ZZY said:

Would love it if Lekkerimäki makes it to the big team. But I’m not holding my breath. I also don’t want to rush the young man. We need to develop Lekkerimäki correctly. Best route for him is Abby. He needs confidence. Let him cook! He could be an early call up for the Canucks. Depends on his play once he gets down to Abby. I’d be really surprised if Lekkerimäki makes it straight onto the big club. But I’d be happy if he makes it. 

 

This, I'd lean towards playing Lekkerimaki in Abbotsford with maybe the occasional call up. We should have let Podz stew longer from the get go, I'd rather us not rush Lekkerimaki. He'd probably be well served by getting a larger taste of AHL hockey and by packing on more muscle, he's still pretty light for his height. 175 at 5'11". https://theahl.com/stats/player/10057

 

One thing the Benning era management did was really push it's top picks into the NHL. Sometimes it worked as demonstrated by the success of Boeser, Hughes, and Pettersson, but sometimes it hasn't as demonstrated by Virtanen, Podkolzin, and McCann. Which isn't to shit on Podkolzin's respectable rookie season, I just reckon he'd have been better served stewing longer, maybe if he'd done that from the get go he wouldn't have spent so much time in Abbotsford this season. 

 

Same goes for Willander, I get why folks are impressed by him but he's still a very young prospect and would be well served by continuing to refine his game, and by physically maturing a bit more prior to making the jump. Pushing his ELC back a bit doesn't hurt either, we'll need that later. He'd likely get a bigger role in Boston next season too, which would be great for his development. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, BCNate said:

I bet he plays in Abby to start, but will not be there for long.  

 

I wouldn't say hrs done much in Abby to warrant that prediction.  I'm betting he spends all next season in Abby, at least

  • Cheers 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, stawns said:

 

I wouldn't say hrs done much in Abby to warrant that prediction.  I'm betting he spends all next season in Abby, at least

Yeah William Eklund is a good comparison. Very different styles of players but both smaller forwards around the same size and build coming over from Sweden. Eklund spent his 20 year-old season in AHL, and then came up and had a pretty strong rookie year in San Jose at 21. Lekkerimaki might have a little more translatable offensive game, but Eklund is the much more responsible two-way forward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, c00kies said:

I remember Shirokov had an amazing pre-season, but couldn't keep that going into the regular season.

Couldn't keep that going? He scored a goal, Vigneault benched him afterwards, and he never got a shot with the big club again.

  • Cheers 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Psycho_Path said:

Couldn't keep that going? He scored a goal, Vigneault benched him afterwards, and he never got a shot with the big club again.

Was like Hunter Shinkaruk vibes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, MatchesMalone said:

Yeah William Eklund is a good comparison. Very different styles of players but both smaller forwards around the same size and build coming over from Sweden. Eklund spent his 20 year-old season in AHL, and then came up and had a pretty strong rookie year in San Jose at 21. Lekkerimaki might have a little more translatable offensive game, but Eklund is the much more responsible two-way forward.

I really like the idea of the sedins working with him for a year in abby

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/11/2024 at 2:05 AM, N4ZZY said:

I hope Podkolzin gets an opportunity with Miller. I don’t think he’s had an opportunity in the top six since his call up with the Canucks. Wonder why. 

I would really like to see him get some time with Petey too.

 

There was a part of a season where Podz-Petey-Garland looked pretty good.

 

And Podz is a much more predictable and professional player now too.

 

Hoglander-Petey-Podz I would like to see it even if its just one game.

  • Cheers 1
  • ThereItIs 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/16/2024 at 12:29 PM, R3aL said:

Hoglander-Petey-Podz I would like to see it even if its just one game.

I wanna see this line also. 

 

Hopefully next year they at least get a few games together to see if anything is there.

  • Like 1
  • ThereItIs 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)
On 4/15/2024 at 1:09 PM, BCNate said:

I bet he plays in Abby to start, but will not be there for long.  

I think from what I've seen watching all his shifts in the World Junior games and for Abbotsford Lekkerimaki will definitely be in Vancouver this next season.

 

After watching these shifts closely in Abbotsford I saw a kid that could fit right in with players like Miller and Pettersson with his extremely high hockey IQ, the way he reads the game, his great skillset and how great he sees the ice and anticipates what's happening next.

Watching him I thought here's a player kind of like Brock but will actually be a better more dangerous goal scorer with Miller setting him up and does absolutely everything at a higher level than Brock.

Also this does including skating which was something in the past I was a bit worried about. Lekkerimaki 's quicker than Brock and he thinks quicker and with all his assets he'll a much better all around player no doubt in my mind.

 

The kid just knows where to go at all the right times and even more shockingly he also defended extremely well making it very difficult on the opposition which was something I definitely didn't expect.

 

This kid has really impressed me how he's grown leaps and bounds even from the World Juniors and imo is going to really shock a lot of people at just how fast he makes an impact in the NHL.

 

Hopefully he gets some great linemates in this coming tournament and keeps building his game and it will really be great to be in more high pressure situations for him. Between all the big games and what this kid went through and coming out better than ever his mental toughness should also be something he has in his arsenal.

 

 

Edited by MoneyMiller
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Bounce000 said:

Lek cut from the Sweden roster after a couple NHLers joined up. Quick, get him back to Abby!

He should have stuck around Abby for this very reason.  Should be a good summer of training to improve his explosiveness and strength getting ready for Abby next fall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...