Canucks preach patience with Swedish prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki
“He’s just a young player in this tournament right now. It’s going to take some time, but that potential is there.” — Scott Young, Canucks director of player personnel
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Jonathan Lekkerimaki may struggle, but it’s nothing to worry about, says one of the Vancouver Canucks’ top talent evaluators.
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The Canucks’ first pick last summer had just an average junior WC. Offense is supposed to be his calling card, but the 18-year-old scored just once in seven games for Sweden, which lost to the Czech Republic in the semifinals and then to the United States in the bronze medal game. He added three assists, his total of four points tied him for sixth in team scoring.
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During the quarter-finals, where Sweden beat Finland, Lekkerimaki was even benched for the second half of the match.
Overall, it has been a tough 2022-23 season for Lekkerimaki, who scored just one goal for Djurgardens in 20 games before heading to the World Juniors. Djurgårdens were relegated to the second division Allsvenskan this season, so it was expected that Lekkerimaki would start to emerge as a dominant offensive force, given that he scored seven goals in 26 games last season, his first as a professional, in the Swedish Hockey League.
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He also dominated in the U18 world and scored five goals and 10 assists in six games for Sweden this spring.
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It’s this pedigree that drew the Canucks to draft him No. 15 overall, which nervous Canucks fans shouldn’t forget, claims Scott Young, the team’s director of player personnel.
“He thinks the game is very fast. He’s got a hell of a shot. He moves the puck quickly. And he’s just a young player in this tournament right now. It’s going to take some time, but that potential is there,” Young said, who was hired by the Canucks this summer.
Young wanted to see how Lekkerimaki grew from the experience. Drafted 11th overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1986 draft, Young played for the United States at the World Juniors in 1985, ’86 and ’87.
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He captained the 1987 team. He scored a goal in each of his first two tournaments, then exploded for seven goals in seven games in 1987. He went on to score 757 points in 1,181 career NHL games with Hartford, Pittsburgh, Quebec, Colorado, Anaheim, St. . Louis and Dallas.
“My first year (in the world juniors) I was completely overwhelmed. I probably didn’t even belong there,” Young said.
“And the second year I didn’t think I was that good either. But in the third year, everything came together. So it’s really part of the player’s development. I think the experience is big for him to get through this tournament, and I just think you’re going to see him develop by leaps and bounds as he gains confidence.”
Lekkerimaki also played in the World Juniors 2022, the tournament was moved to August from last winter due to the increase in the Omicron COVID-19 variant. In the summer tournament, the winger was the youngest player in the Swedish team.
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This time he was not the youngest player on the team. He was in the middle of the age range.
It shouldn’t have been a fight.
Elite Prospects editor-in-chief JD Burke wasn’t a fan of Lekkerimaki’s play coming into the draft and his poor showing at the world juniors didn’t change his mind.
“He needs a lot. We didn’t like his play last season and we at EP ranked him nine places lower than everyone else. Maybe we should have rated him lower. He needs develop more pace away from the puck and find a way to create shooting opportunities for himself, for starters. Just a higher commitment when the puck is not on his stick would do wonders for his game. You start there and then you try to play a little more on the inside, he said.
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That said, Burke allowed for some context.
“He just had a concussion. He had mono in the summer. I don’t know if it was fair to expect him to be at his best, but he wasn’t good,” Burke said.
![Sweden's Elias Pettersson looks up the ice to make a pass as Finland's Lenni Hameenaho chases the second period of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships quarterfinal in Moncton, NB, on January 2, 2023.](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/theprovince/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/hko-world-juniors-finland-sweden-20230102-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288)
Lekkerimaki’s teammate, Elias Pettersson, whom the Canucks drafted in the third round last summer, was outstanding, according to Young.
He had seen Pettersson on video, but this tournament was the first time he saw the defender live.
“I was really impressed. He moves really well. He’s a guy who plays on his toes, has a good stick on defense. He defends one-on-one really well, boxes out to the front of the net. Really good size,” Young said.
“He’s definitely not afraid to get his nose dirty. A few times there were scrums and he was in there. There was zero hesitation. And I liked the fact that he plays the game without hesitation. He closes down quickly in the d-zone.
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“He plays fast and he takes away time and space. And it’s a big body with a long reach, which is hard to play against.”
Burke agreed with Young’s assessment.
“He made some huge stops in the defensive zone. Offensively, I didn’t see much, which was expected. But his skating looked good. He’s physical. A lot to like if you’re a Canucks fan. Very encouraging signs,” said Burke. “And even with the silent crime, at least he wasn’t a black hole. He will be a puck-moving contemporary defenseman. You want to see that he’s ready to fight, that he’s physical, that he’s going to rise to the occasion. And he did.”
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