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The analysis on Jonathan Lekkerimaki is simple: the kid has scored at every other level. Can he translate that to the NHL?
Let us not forget that he actually made the Canucks out of training camp last year, following on from 2024-25 when he’d showed in his first season in North American to get 24 NHL games under his belt with Rick Tocchet as his coach and many times J.T. Miller as his centre.
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The lethal shooting talent, that was obvious. His first goal, scored in November 2024 against the New York Islanders was the case in point: a simple short pass from Miller and a lightning-quick one-timer release by the Swedish rookie.
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It was everything we’d heard the kid could do — and what the stats pages confirmed.
Given a chance to shoot, Lekkerimaki has an absolute hammer of a shot.
And yet he’s not been able to solidify his role in the NHL. In 37 NHL games now across two he’s managed just five goals. And many nights he’s been hard to find on the ice.
The NHL is a big, strong league and you need to find a way to make your own space. Lekkerimaki is not a big guy and he’s not going to be able to only take shots off the wing: he needs to find a way to make more of an impact in the hard-checking NHL.
When Ryan Johnson said earlier this week that he’s not a fan of “the yo-yo” as he called it, you can bet he had Lekkerimaki in mind. Lekkerimaki has struggled with injuries in each of his first two North American seasons, no doubt, but even before that there’s been a lack of a clear role for him in the NHL, especially last season.
Johnson has seen enough of Lekkerimaki in the AHL to believe that the winger can put it all together in the NHL. And to Johnson, the formula is simple.
“Playing consistently in areas that allow him to do what he does best,” he said. “I’ve seen stretches of him, not just at the AHL, but in some NHL games where all those elite qualities that he has: his release, his ability to get in and out of tight areas and get pucks off. He can beat goalies clean with his shot.”
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It’s Lekkerimaki’s inner drive that Johnson believes will be the final piece of this puzzle, the one that will elevate his overall game to what’s needed in the NHL. Lekkerimaki is coming off shoulder surgery but Johnson isn’t worried at all.
“Luckily there’s a there’s a competitor inside him,” the GM said. “He’s dealt with some adversity, like the year we won (the Calder Cup) he had an injury right at the end of the regular season and had to work himself back in some real high stakes games.
“And he ends up scoring some big goals on the way to the Calder Cup. Last year we intentionally shut him down for this very reason: it was to get his shoulder taken care of. He’s had a fantastic summer. He looks good. I met with him last week. He just looks strong.
“I’m ready to give him a chance to say, ‘Hey, you’re an NHL player. Go do what you can with the comfort of not feeling make one mistake and oh man here we go,’” Johnson said finally. “That you can you can make some mistakes and grow and build some sustained confidence.”
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