Jonathan Lekkerimäki | RW

[Rip The Mesh]

OMG! Look what one has to go through!

 

 

[Coconuts]

On 8/11/2024 at 2:31 PM, Pure961089 said:

I'm still puzzled to why the Caps would buy Capfriendly just to shut it down.  Doesn't seem friendly at all.  Asked search why and it gave no good excuses at all.  Just terrible optics for the Washington Capitals.  Did Capfriendly expose the organizations incompetence on the regular?

 

 

It wasn't so much about shutting it down, it was about making it and it's tools exclusively available to the Caps front office. Lot of front offices around the league used it, a lot of media used it, it became an essential resource for anyone who bothers to engage with the NHL online. Thing is, supposedly there were a few teams who were considering buying it, Caps just beat the others to the punch. 

 

They didn't just acquire it, they hired the main guys behind it. They didn't just buy the tools, but the infrastructure, and it's likely every NHL franchise doesn't have similar infrastructure or it wouldn't have been so widely used by NHL management groups and the like. At the end of the day it was easier to buy the existing resource than to build and develop one themselves. 

 

Supposedly the Caps couldn't have kept it up if they'd wanted it to, the NHL doesn't like fans having access to the sort of financial information we've grown accustomed to having available. 

 

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/takes/washington-capitals-report-capfriendly-purchase-explanation

[Rip The Mesh]

It’s prepping to be a busy few weeks for Vancouver Canucks’ rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who will be reportedly representing the club at the 14th annual NHLPA Rookie Showcase.
The event, presented by Upper Deck and the NHLPA, will be held at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday, September 4th, 2024, and will feature 33 NHL prospects and rookies.
The showcase offers the league’s top young stars an opportunity to be photographed and recorded while showing off their on-ice skills amongst their peers. In addition, they will take part in various promotional materials.
While Aatu Räty attended the event as a member of the New York Islanders in 2022, defenceman Quinn Hughes was the last Canuck to participate in the event in 2019.
The young Swede will join an impressive list of fellow rookies, including 2024 first-round pick Macklin Celebrini (Sharks) and fellow countrymen Noah Östlund (Sabres) and Liam Öhgren (Wild).

 

The Canucks originally selected Lekkerimäki with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. The Tullinge, Sweden product collected 19 goals and 31 points in 46 SHL games with Örebro HK in the 2023-24 regular season.
The weekend after the Rookie Showcase, Lekkerimäki is expected to the club at the 2024 YoungStars tournament in Penticton, BC, from September 13-16. From there, he will attend his first official NHL training camp as a North American skater from September 19-22.
The following NHL prospects and rookies will also attend the event:
Marek Alscher (Panthers), Lian Bichsel (Stars), Gavin Brindley (Blue Jackets), Seamus Casey (Devils), Nikita Chibrikov (Jets), Easton Cowan (Maple Leafs), Nate Danielson (Red Wings), Josh Doan (Utah Hockey Club), Dalibor Dvorsky (Blues), Ivan Fedotov (Flyers), Cutter Gauthier (Ducks), Gage Goncalves (Lightning), Lane Hutson (Canadiens), Nikolai Kovalenko (Avalanche), Artyom Levshunov (Blackhawks), Logan Mailloux (Canadiens), Matvei Michkov (Flyers), Ivan Miroshnichenko (Capitals), Logan Morrison (Kraken), Shakir Mukhamadullin (Sharks), Bradly Nadeau (Hurricanes), Frank Nazar (Blackhawks), Zack Ostapchuk (Senators), Vasily Ponomarev (Penguins), Matt Rempe (Rangers), Olivier Rodrigue (Oilers), Will Smith (Sharks), Fedor Svechkov (Predators) and Akil Thomas (Kings).

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Rip The Mesh said:

 

Yup. Lekkerimaki will make the club (on Petey’s wing with Debrusk) out of camp. He will go on to have a great season and win the Calder. He’s our Mike Bossy. Great player who will do great things. 

[kettlevalley]

52 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Yup. Lekkerimaki will make the club (on Petey’s wing with Debrusk) out of camp. He will go on to have a great season and win the Calder. He’s our Mike Bossy. Great player who will do great things. 

Disagree. I don't think he is ready yet and our current management wants to develop players.  There is also not room in the forward ranks.  

[Alflives]

7 hours ago, kettlevalley said:

Disagree. I don't think he is ready yet and our current management wants to develop players.  There is also not room in the forward ranks.  

Lekkerimaki is a special player. He will 100% win the Calder this season. 

[Rip The Mesh]

8 hours ago, kettlevalley said:

Disagree. I don't think he is ready yet and our current management wants to develop players.  There is also not room in the forward ranks.  

Yah, but if the season is going well like last year when the brought up Bains for 3 to take a look, why not Lekkerimaki. Just a thought.

[kettlevalley]

29 minutes ago, Rip The Mesh said:

Yah, but if the season is going well like last year when the brought up Bains for 3 to take a look, why not Lekkerimaki. Just a thought.

I didn't say he wouldn't maybe get games due to injury call ups.  Just that he wasn't gonna be the Calder winner or someone who takes a top 6 spot out of camp and lekkerimaki ain't playing in the bottom 6.  

[Hammertime]

On 8/13/2024 at 9:49 AM, Rip The Mesh said:

 

This is a great quote. There really is no rush. We don't want to burn years off his ELC unless he is ready to take the next step. We have the full benifit of time where we didn't with Pod this year and Raty Karlsson Aman will have to take the next step this year or they will be on waivers/traded for a pull at nickel slots.  

[Alflives]

8 minutes ago, Hammertime said:

This is a great quote. There really is no rush. We don't want to burn years off his ELC unless he is ready to take the next step. We have the full benifit of time where we didn't with Pod this year and Raty Karlsson Aman will have to take the next step this year or they will be on waivers/traded for a pull at nickel slots.  

Of course we will not rush prospects now. Benning, the moran) is gone. But Lekkerimaki is a very special player, like Petey and Hughes.

[Hammertime]

16 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Of course we will not rush prospects now. Benning, the moran) is gone. But Lekkerimaki is a very special player, like Petey and Hughes.

Guentzel didn't get a sniff at the NHL until 22yo under our MGMT. 

[Bonkers]

If JL is ready some time during the season, we have too many wingers. What a strange feeling.

[Harvey Specter]

Lekkerimaki posing for the Upper Deck / NHLPA Rookie Showcase.

 

Sporting #23 - is he eying a spot on the NHL roster?  

[nergish]

On 9/4/2024 at 4:57 PM, Harvey Specter said:

Lekkerimaki posing for the Upper Deck / NHLPA Rookie Showcase.

 

Sporting #23 - is he eying a spot on the NHL roster?  

Lindholm? Never heard of him.

[Integra250]

What's with the Swedes on this team wearing #23?

[Rip The Mesh]

Can Canucks Fans Expect Jonathan Lekkerimaki to Play This Season?

 

(September 8, 2024 by Lukas Bernasiewicz)

 

The Vancouver Canucks will finally see their top prospect play close to home this season as 2022 first-round pick Jonathan Lekkerimaki will be playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Abbotsford Canucks. It has been a long road for the 15th overall pick as he has battled through injury and adversity but he is now much closer to his NHL dream. That dream may take place this season as he could be called up to play games in Vancouver. The bigger question is will he get called up and if so, for how many games?

Will Lekkerimaki Play in the NHL This Season?
The Canucks truly believe in Lekkerimaki and feel as though he is going to be an NHL player, if they did not then they would not have originally drafted him in 2022 and signed him to an entry-level contract (ELC) back in 2023. The organization has liked what he has developed into and is looking forward to seeing what he can bring at the AHL level. However, he still needs to prove to the organization that he can be an NHL player this season, play important minutes for the team, and be a contributor. So he will need at least 20 games in the AHL playing with the Abbotsford Canucks before general manager Patrik Alvin and company can consider the decision of calling him up to play games in Vancouver. But that does not mean that he is unable to do these things because he is.

 

What could work in Lekkerimaki’s favour is the unfortunate reality of hockey, which is injuries. Someone at some point this season is going to get injured in Vancouver and the team will need to replace them. Depending on who gets hurt, Lekkerimaki may be at the top of Vancouver’s list of players that they can call up. Or if he plays better than some of the NHL players, he could jump up the winger depth chart and prove that he does deserve a spot on the Canucks roster. Although that does seem highly unlikely as this is his first full season of North American hockey, he has the skill set to impress Canucks management and potentially earn an opportunity to play NHL games.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Rip;

I'm guessing the Canucks will find a way to get him some NHL time as they did with Bains last season, just a guess...

[Bretzky]

I hope he earns his stripes and does get call ups because of injuries, etc…

He’s still really young so let him tip his toes in.

It will be good to have him playing here though, in Abby or in Van…so he’s close! 
The runways open for him to go!

Be cool if he literally shoots his way into his NHL career as a young rookie, we have 2 really good centres to grease him up with and see now if wanted.

But prolly to soon, give him time. Maybe a year in the AHL? 
How strong is he now??

Edited September 8 by Bretzky

[VegasCanuck]

On 9/3/2024 at 7:05 AM, Alflives said:

Yup. Lekkerimaki will make the club (on Petey’s wing with Debrusk) out of camp. He will go on to have a great season and win the Calder. He’s our Mike Bossy. Great player who will do great things. 

Wishful thinking, Alf, I would love to see it and wouldn't completely rule it out, but I think they will want him playing top line minutes in Abbotsford for at least the first half of the season and gaining experience and strength.

 

From what I saw of his play in Abbotsford at the end of last season, he needs some time on North American ice as well as time getting stronger. I don't think he's that far away, but I do think they will give him some time down in the AHL and make him push his way onto the team.

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Rip The Mesh]

By
Adam Kimelman
@NHLAdamK NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor
3:49 PM

Jonathan Lekkerimaki isn't much of a golfer, but he understands the golfer's mindset -- all you can do is hit the next shot.

That approach is what helped the Vancouver Canucks forward prospect go from a disappointing 2022-23 to a 2023-24 that saw him named Swedish Hockey League rookie of the year and the top junior player in Sweden.

"I work [on] that a lot," Lekkerimaki said of his mental approach. "Every shift is a different one. I think that sticks out for me."

Most of Lekkerimaki's shifts last season were good ones. He led Orebro with 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists) in 46 games. It was the most goals and points by a teenager in the SHL (he turned 20 on July 24), and the most by any under-20 player in the league since Emil Bemstrom (23 goals, 35 points) in 2018-19.

Lekkerimaki also was named the most valuable player at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, tying for the tournament lead with seven goals in seven games and helping Sweden win the silver medal.

He finished the season with two points (one goal, one assist) in six games with Abbotsford of the American Hockey League.

All that success is a far cry from 2022-23, when he had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 29 games with Djurgarden in Allsvenskan, the second-highest league in Sweden.

Jumping from Sweden's junior league to playing with and against older competition seemed to overwhelm Lekkerimaki at times.

Some of that could have been attributed to a shortened offseason of training, which included traveling to Montreal for the 2022 NHL Draft, where the Canucks selected him with the No. 15 pick, followed by rookie camp before returning home to Sweden.

"He's not the guy who's just jumping right in, like here I am, I'm taking everything by storm, and off you go," said Mikael Samuelsson, who works in player development for the Canucks. "That whole summer with the draft, development camp, it was [overwhelming] a little bit. He was like, 'I don't know what to think. It was a big impression for me, and now I didn't have the off-ice time that I wanted.'"

Despite Lekkerimaki's struggles, Samuelsson saw some good, and a lot of it carried into last season. A more stable offseason of training, a familiarity with the level of competition and the move to Orebro set up Lekkerimaki for the success he had in 2023-24.

Lekkerimaki (5-foot-11, 172 pounds) said he felt stronger entering last season and feels even more ready this season with a spot in the NHL a possibility.

"This was a long summer, so hopefully I will get some results," he said. "I feel stronger and faster."

Samuelsson believes that additional strength will help Lekkerimaki in board battles as he moves to the smaller rinks in North America this season.

"From the development side, I think he has steps to go in the physical game," he said. "What I mean with that is, like, how you play in traffic, are you still strong on the puck when it matters, can you win races on the boards and actually come out with the puck from boards. That's the thing he needs to adjust to. He needs to see that it's really important in all the smaller rinks, because it happens all the time. I think he can do it. I think he will adjust in time. I really believe he can be a good player. But when? How fast will you take those steps? That's the question I have in my head."

Lekkerimaki said he believes he is better prepared to give an affirmative answer to those questions, starting this weekend with the Young Stars Classic prospect tournament in Penticton, British Columbia, then into training camp.

The offseason departures of forwards Ilya Mikheyev (trade, Chicago Blackhawks) and Elias Lindholm (free agent, Boston Bruins) leaves a spot among the top six forward group open. But Lekkerimaki understands if he has to start the season in the AHL.

It's part of that play-the-next-shot-where-it-lies mindset.

"Yeah, just train hard and play hard," he said.

Samuelsson is looking forward to what Lekkerimaki can accomplish.

"I know this, he's up to the challenge," Samuelsson said.

[Coconuts]

On 9/3/2024 at 7:05 AM, Alflives said:

Yup. Lekkerimaki will make the club (on Petey’s wing with Debrusk) out of camp. He will go on to have a great season and win the Calder. He’s our Mike Bossy. Great player who will do great things. 

 

He starts in Abbotsford imo, and that's not a slight, I think he'd get a larger role in Abbotsford and that's a good thing. He's still super young. We have a crowded forward group as is, getting a season of AHL hockey with the odd call up would probably be better, we're better off letting guys like him and Willander stew a bit.

 

Calder will probably go to one of Celebrini or Michkov.

[Alflives]

1 hour ago, Coconuts said:

 

He starts in Abbotsford imo, and that's not a slight, I think he'd get a larger role in Abbotsford and that's a good thing. He's still super young. We have a crowded forward group as is, getting a season of AHL hockey with the odd call up would probably be better, we're better off letting guys like him and Willander stew a bit.

 

Calder will probably go to one of Celebrini or Michkov.

Nope. Lekkerimaki is better than any rookie in the league. He’s another phenom on our team. F the rest of the league. F them all, and their fans and cities. 

[MoneyMiller]

Funny how fans put limits on great young players until they're proven wrong and I'm going to say it here Lekkerimaki will make the team and show everyone he's the real deal and already has everything they'd want him to have x 2.

 

The only thing that holds the best young prospects back these days if they have no elusiveness and get physically dominated so injury is a big concern and that's not Lekkerimaki and if their defensive game and awareness is lacking and that's 100% not Lekkerimaki the kid is extremely intelligent to go with his extreme skill level.

 

Lekkerimaki has been growing his game leaps and bounds since his MVP WJ tournament and I couldn't respect him more for that and couldn't be more excited. When you watch this kid closely you see a lot of high skill plays jump out but if you watch even closer you can see lots of other things he does at the highest level that don't pan out just because his linemates aren't anywhere close to the elite player he is.

 

If you're very impressed with this kid now just wait until you see what he'll accomplish with some of the best players in the world like Miller, Petey, Hughes... who think and see the game like he does and how Lekkerimaki will work hockey magic with those players like we saw with the Sedins all those years.

 

Lekkerimaki will be immediately in our top 6 this season playing with forwards that play the game at his level and he'll really flourish with those players and make them all much better and make the powerplay scary good and boost their % to one of the best in the league.

 

All of these extremely positive takes here I've made are very lofty expectations and I fully realize that but I'm 99.9% sure they're bang on accurate. I've been watching the game for many years and I'm almost always right good or bad on players and I'm positive on what I'm saying here.

 

Lekkerimaki will have as good of a chance as any of winning the rookie of the year and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see that happen.

The scouts and organization drafted an absolute gem again and I can't wait to see this kid getting better and better wearing the Canucks colors.

 

Anyway just sit back and enjoy what's to come because the sky is the limit for young Lekkerimaki and this team we love and our team is back contending with the leagues best for many years to come.

[Rip The Mesh]

PENTICTON, B.C. — Injured goalie Thatcher Demko wasn’t the only Vancouver Canuck close to playing when his team’s playoff run ended in Game 7 of the second round last May.

Swedish teenager Jonathan Lekkerimaki, who had been skating with the extra “black aces” for only a few days during that playoff series, suddenly became a candidate to parachute into the National Hockey League post-season when blood clots forced 40-goal winger Brock Boeser out of the Canucks’ lineup on the eve of the deciding game against the Edmonton Oilers.

“If we go into Dallas, can he help?” Canucks assistant general manager Ryan Johnson said Friday of the internal discussions about Lekkerimaki that occurred in May. “I mean, Brock Boeser's injured and we have this right-shot winger right here. Who knows where things would have gone had we continued on.”

Neither Demko nor Lekkerimaki played Game 7 when the Oilers eliminated Vancouver before moving on to Dallas and beating the Stars in the Western Conference Final.

Demko subsequently either aggravated the knee injury he suffered in Vancouver’s playoff-opener or sustained a new one over the summer, and the Vezina Trophy runner-up is not expected to be fully fit for next week’s training camp here.

 

Lekkerimaki, however, is even stronger after turning 20 in July following his exceptional 19-year-old season. The 15th-overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft begins his push for an NHL lineup spot this weekend as one of the headliners in the Canucks’ annual Young Stars tournament.

The goal-scoring winger played all of six American Hockey League games on the smaller North American ice after coming over from Sweden near the end of last season. 

But Canucks president Jim Rutherford told Sportsnet in June: “We have Lekkerimaki coming, which based on his year this year, if he comes in and has a good camp, he'll make a case to be on the team right away.”

And then Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin signed NHL wingers Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Kiefer Sherwood and Daniel Sprong in free agency, giving the Canucks their deepest and potentially most-balanced pool of forwards since the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.

So, despite his impressive talent and development curve, Lekkerimaki is still a long shot to make the NHL roster in October. But everyone around the Canucks expects him to make it eventually, and possibly soon.

“I think there is a good opportunity,” Lekkerimaki said here Friday morning after Canuck prospects skated ahead of that night’s game against the Oilers’ prospects. “Hopefully, I’ll do my best every day. Play my game, do my best, be humble out there and just work hard. I think I'm just better overall, stronger with the puck (than a year ago). Hopefully I play a little more physical than before.”

Reminded about the quartet of wingers the Canucks added in free agency, Lekkerimaki said: “I saw that. I don’t know (if it changes anything). I think the organization has a good plan for me.”

So far, the plan is working.

After a difficult draft-plus-one season in 2022-23, Lekkerimaki dramatically elevated his play last year. 

He went from scoring three times in 29 games in Sweden’s second division to sniping 19 goals in 46 games for Orebro in the top league last season.

Lekkerimaki also scored seven times in seven games at the world junior championship and was named the Swedish Hockey League’s rookie of the year. Stronger and more confident, he looked like an entirely different player in his draft-plus-two season.

“Something we talked about extensively after the draft process was how exhausting everything was on him — the draft, world junior camps, suddenly playing in the SHL,” Johnson explained. “We intentionally just backed off for a year to let him get caught up mentally.

“And not to our surprise, once having a full offseason to just take a breath, (we saw) the success that he had in Sweden and the growth in his game, the details in his game, and all those things. The major cherry on top was being able to get him over here and get him into games in Abbotsford.”

Lekkerimaki’s six games for the minor-league Abbotsford Canucks impressed the organization as much as his 46 games for Orebro. It wasn’t the player’s AHL scoring totals (one goal and one assist) that excited management, but how quickly he began to adapt to the North American game and how badly he wanted to play it.

Invited to Sweden’s camp for the senior world championships, Lekkerimaki squeezed in a trip to Vancouver to play those six AHL games. And when he wasn’t chosen for Sweden’s bronze-medal-winning team at the worlds in Czechia, Lekkerimaki returned to B.C. to be around the Canucks during the playoffs.

“So now when Jonathan comes here — and same thing with Petey (Canuck defence prospect Elias Pettersson) — they know the staff, they know their teammates,” Johnson said. “That takes so much off the table for them as far as getting comfortable in this environment and getting ready for next week (and main camp).

“We saw in Abbotsford his ability to acclimate and, after all of one practice, go into an AHL game. And we were playing in Colorado — an extremely tough environment, physical. And I see him go through the middle of the ice just screaming for the puck, like, 'Get me the puck.' It would have been easy to say, 'You know what, I'm new, I'm just going to kind of drift in.' 

“One of the things that I really appreciated was his attention to detail. His wall plays, his puck battles, he took those personally. The league is ramped up, the pace is ramped up. There's special qualities in people that allow them to do that, and he has that. We're excited, obviously.”

If Lekkerimaki is equally excited, it’s difficult to tell. At this point, he doesn’t reveal too much in his second language.

“I think it was good to get the experience in the AHL and play some games, have some practices,” he said Friday. “To play on the smaller ice, there’s not much time (with the puck). Very different than Sweden. There’s a lot of little things. I think it was good last season, and coming in for this season I have a bit more confidence. Overall, it was a very good season.”

The Canucks believe he’ll have a lot of others.

“Sometimes the best development and support you can do for a player is just to back off a little,” Johnson said. “That was a great lesson for us during Jonathan's first year. Just let him be. Let him be a person. We knew we just needed to let him take his time. We believed in the skill set; that’s why he was drafted where he was. And we feel that it has paid off to this point.

“The players will make their own bed as far as what they're ready for and when. But we have a lot of belief in him.”