Jonathan Lekkerimäki | RW

[Captain Canuck #12]

2 hours ago, st33 said:

Every highlight I've seen thus far... I haven't seen him wear #40. Mainly #88.

 

When does he wear 40? Lol

In his dreams?? 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Captain Canuck #12

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

He reminds me a bit of Oliver Bjorkstrand.

[73 Percent]

3 hours ago, JamesB said:

 

 

I was expecting more enthusiasm from CDC.  This is a great pick at #15. He is not a Boeser clone but is a more complete player (although he is smaller).

 

At age 17 (turning 18 in late July) he is one of the youngest players in the draft.  An extra 8 months to a year makes a big difference at that age so that adds to his "ceiling". 

 

I was really happy about this pick.  I think he was the best the Canucks could hope to do at #15. And he said Petey is his favorite player!

 

 

We have 5 days to trade Miller or management has once again dropped the ball. I'm more concerned with that than the draft.

Edited July 8, 2022 by 73 Percent

[R3aL]

4 hours ago, st33 said:

Every highlight I've seen thus far... I haven't seen him wear #40. Mainly #88.

 

When does he wear 40? Lol

I think I’ve figured it out.

 

he wore 21 before switching to 40 for petey. 
 

internationally he wore 23 

 

and when he got called up to the SHL from the U20 he wore 88. Maybe 40 was taken? 
 

as a Canuck I’d be ecstatic if he chose to wear 88

 

LEKKERIMAKI

88

 

Would look sick on a Canucks sweater 

[R3aL]

36 minutes ago, 73 Percent said:

We have 5 days to trade Miller or management has once again dropped the ball. I'm more concerned with that than the draft.

If you were another GM.

 

and you wanted a top 6 C would you not prefer a chance at signing one for free in Kadri / Bergeron or another elite talent like a Forsberg / Gaudreau.

 

or at least just seeing what the numbers are and if it’s possible.

 

before giving up a bunch of assets for JT.

 

I think if there’s no deal by July 15th I start getting antsy. July 20th one week after free agency no extension or trade then ill

ne stressed. And if by training camp I’ll be upset. 

[Fred65]

If that was his sister he was sitting close to, 

[A.V.'s slurp]

2 hours ago, Herberts Vasiljevs said:

He reminds me a bit of Oliver Bjorkstrand.

If he turns out to be anything like him, that is a win! Watching CBJ for all their drama the last few years, that kid has stood out tremendously!!

[Odd.]

2 hours ago, Herberts Vasiljevs said:

He reminds me a bit of Oliver Bjorkstrand.

I really like this comparison. Bork’s a solid player.

[73 Percent]

1 hour ago, R3aL said:

If you were another GM.

 

and you wanted a top 6 C would you not prefer a chance at signing one for free in Kadri / Bergeron or another elite talent like a Forsberg / Gaudreau.

 

or at least just seeing what the numbers are and if it’s possible.

 

before giving up a bunch of assets for JT.

 

I think if there’s no deal by July 15th I start getting antsy. July 20th one week after free agency no extension or trade then ill

ne stressed. And if by training camp I’ll be upset. 

Apples and oranges. JT still has one year on a sweetheart deal. Plus first crack to re sign. Not many contenders have 10m to blow on Kadri Forsberg Gaudreau. Plus only one of the mentioned is a center. 

[IBatch]

9 hours ago, Provost said:

The scouting reports so saw and what they said on the broadcast said his speed was a knock on him.  “Nylander without the speed”.

 

For our group and for the profile they said they wanted, I would have picked Ohgren, Pickering, Miroschnichenko, or Bichsel.

 

We won’t know the answer on this pick for 4-5 years.

That's cherry picking.   A lot of his bios have his skating as very good and one of his strengths.   The guys still 17 as well... Brock and Horvat both had to work on theirs and they did - and we're heavily criticized for their skating coming into the draft.    I wouldn't call this a "meh" pick that will take 4-5 years ... we should know within a year or two where this kid is going to land.    Forwards don't take as long as defenseman.  He also had mono which may or may not have affected some of his play (for sure he lost games as a result) and dominated his peer group.   Playing in the SHL at 17 is the same thing or better then playing in the AHL or KHL.    

 

Im cautiously optimistic, this kid has the tools to make the NHL and really help our cap, within two years.   Having the best shot in the draft is something you can't teach.   Willing to wait and see, but early days there is nothing not to like about this.  We just missed the playoffs, and got a chance on a top ten pick anyways.   One who would have ranked higher then 4-9 by most experts, IF he wasn't bigger and didn't have mono.    We were lucky. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by IBatch

[Fred65]

If that was his sister he was sitting close to, 

 

Here's an interesting take

 

7 fun facts about Canucks draft pick Jonathan Lekkerimäki | Offside (dailyhive.com)

[wai_lai416]

6 hours ago, Gawdzukes said:

Disagree he'll be here in 3 years. 

 

 

 

I hope. Whatever get the best assets we can. That should be the mission right now. Another goal scorer is exactly what we need. We can't be afraid of guys that can shoot the puck because of Virtanen. Lekkerimaki has a high IQ.

Disagree? 3 years takes him to 21. So 21-22 what is there to disagree lol 

[wai_lai416]

6 hours ago, Hogs & Podz said:

Short of a major injury, he'll probably be playing in North America in draft +2 year (he'll be 19 turning 20).

If he does great but I’m still going to go with the 3-4 year timeline. He’s going to be an exciting prospect. Most the time lot of mid rounders takes 3-4 years even kids inside top 10 can take 3-4 years before they make it. 1-2 years in their respective league and then another 1-2 in the ahl. I see no difference with johnathan. He doesn’t scream nhl ready and will need to learn the game in North America 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[MikeyD]

My thoughts on the pick:

 

Pretty safe, fairly low risk high reward pick. Has the potential to be a top 6 player and I think he has a 75% chance of achieving that role in 4 years (I'm guessing 3 years personally as long as he doesn't become injury prone) but could even potentially earn a spot as early as 2 years in out of camp. Lots of similarities with Hoglander in some aspects. Both are smaller forwards, will grind but aren't physically imposing. Both have good hands and a decent IQ set.

 

Lek is a bit inconsistent in a few areas. He can be a great playmaker at times because he's a really quick thinker on the ice. Sometimes this leads to him passing and moving the puck too quickly but other times it shows some high level playmaking ability to make some really creative plays. At the same time he also shows some really good smarts when it comes to holding onto the puck. He's got a good set of hands and understands the gap he needs to have against defensemen on the rush. He has moments of being safe and smart with the puck and then he has moments of taking what's given to him and will make a really nice creative move with his hands to set up a pass. Another area he's a bit inconsistent I've found is defensively. Positionally I think he's actually ahead of most in this draft class in terms of defending. He shuts down high threat areas and then once has support will shut down walls and that's how I feel wingers should play. However I find the more fatigued he gets over the course of games, he tends to become less involved with these plays and also resorts to longer extended stick checks as opposed to moving his body into position and leveraging his body like he can earlier in games. He has flashes of being a brilliant two way winger and then flashes of slightly lazier play defensively. Overall, I still think he's pretty good away from the puck and ahead of projection in this area of the game.

 

Everybody tends to focus on his shot, and yes he does have a great shot and can be a good scoring threat but off the rush I find he's very smart with when to pass vs shoot. He's creative, not super risky but risky enough to have that creativity and overall I think his passing game is underrated. What he does need to work on is timing. He has the fundamentals of playmaking down, it's just that sometimes he rushes a pass too quickly. His timing with his playmaking and his defense needs a bit of refinement for more consistency.

 

As for his skating, he's not super fast. Very average in speed but his hands tend to make his skating look better than it is because he knows how to be elusive while carrying the puck but straight line speed is average, agility is maybe slightly above average and his strength on his skates is fairly average. 

 

Overall I think he's a great pick at 15. There's a reason why many had him in the top 10. He has a good base for his game. Pretty safe pick with projection to be an NHL'er and doesn't have some of the big glaring holes a lot of other players in this draft class had. His shot is what makes him his money, but don't sleep on his playmaking. He's a better playmaker than Hoglander, Boeser, and some of the other forwards that are typically known more for their goal scoring on this team. He's faster than Boeser. Has a quicker release than Boeser, but not the same shooting power as Boeser. Boeser also I feel knows how to get to the spots he needs to a bit better but much of that is experience. Boeser had more raw talent in his shooting ability when we first drafted him but also didn't have the dynamic ability to make passing plays either.

 

Overall I will copy Will Scouch's method of rating where uses a rating system of a number and a letter for the consistency of that number. 1 being the best and A being the most consistent.

 

Think - 1D (has the ability to be a top notch thinker but is pretty inconsistent with it. If he can nail timing down a bit more he can undoubtedly turn into a 1st line player but he has yet to shown nearly the level of consistency for me to believe he will get there permanently which is why I think he will be a top 6 player)

 

Move - 2B (will skate to the areas he needs to be in, has good awareness but lacks high end speed and skating. When fresh I find he is a 2A)

 

Get - 2B (he's pretty consistently making the effort to do the right thing to get the puck but sometimes uses his stick a bit more than I'd like to win the puck battles. Now with that said he has flashes of making some amazingly timed stick checks to check a stick before the puck gets to a player and win some creative battles along the walls. I considered ranking him as 1D but because he isn't really a checking type, I opted for 2B)

 

Pass - 1D ( underrated passing game just needs a little bit more timing to really flesh out some of his creative and quick decision making in terms of dishing the puck. More of a short pass type of player but has a decent east-west game that I like to see in prospects)

 

Shoot - 1B (he has a great shot but would like to see him use his hands more to get to more dangerous spots on the ice to get that shot off)

 

Overall - 2A? (I dunno how to average this out lol.)

 

If you want to know what Scouching ranked him as, here it is: 

 

Think - 2B

Move - 2B

Get - 2C

Pass - 3B

Shoot - 1D

Overall - 2A

 

I disagree with him on his passing but I understand why. I have his passing projected kind of more down the line and with a more dynamic offense such as the NHL level, similar to how I ranked Petey's passing ability and creativity towards an NHL level and I was right about Petey so I hope I'm right here. With that said, he's nowhere in the realm of playmaking that Petey had. Petey was extremely consistent, had great timing and just needed smarter players around him. Also he was a great distance playmaker as well in which Lek isn't. But the potential is there as I understand why he makes the plays he does and why he will sometimes take a more unorthodoxed approach to dishing the puck when he does and I also think that small area playmaking is a vital skill to have at the NHL level and that quick decision making is the base to having success with your passing so I think fundamentally he has the tools to be really successful in that area of the game. It just needs development. 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by MikeyD

[HighOnHockey]

21 minutes ago, MikeyD said:

My thoughts on the pick:

 

Pretty safe, fairly low risk high reward pick. Has the potential to be a top 6 player and I think he has a 75% chance of achieving that role in 4 years (I'm guessing 3 years personally as long as he doesn't become injury prone) but could even potentially earn a spot as early as 2 years in out of camp. Lots of similarities with Hoglander in some aspects. Both are smaller forwards, will grind but aren't physically imposing. Both have good hands and a decent IQ set.

 

Lek is a bit inconsistent in a few areas. He can be a great playmaker at times because he's a really quick thinker on the ice. Sometimes this leads to him passing and moving the puck too quickly but other times it shows some high level playmaking ability to make some really creative plays. At the same time he also shows some really good smarts when it comes to holding onto the puck. He's got a good set of hands and understands the gap he needs to have against defensemen on the rush. He has moments of being safe and smart with the puck and then he has moments of taking what's given to him and will make a really nice creative move with his hands to set up a pass. Another area he's a bit inconsistent I've found is defensively. Positionally I think he's actually ahead of most in this draft class in terms of defending. He shuts down high threat areas and then once has support will shut down walls and that's how I feel wingers should play. However I find the more fatigued he gets over the course of games, he tends to become less involved with these plays and also resorts to longer extended stick checks as opposed to moving his body into position and leveraging his body like he can earlier in games. He has flashes of being a brilliant two way winger and then flashes of slightly lazier play defensively. Overall, I still think he's pretty good away from the puck and ahead of projection in this area of the game.

 

Everybody tends to focus on his shot, and yes he does have a great shot and can be a good scoring threat but off the rush I find he's very smart with when to pass vs shoot. He's creative, not super risky but risky enough to have that creativity and overall I think his passing game is underrated. What he does need to work on is timing. He has the fundamentals of playmaking down, it's just that sometimes he rushes a pass too quickly. His timing with his playmaking and his defense needs a bit of refinement for more consistency.

 

As for his skating, he's not super fast. Very average in speed but his hands tend to make his skating look better than it is because he knows how to be elusive while carrying the puck but straight line speed is average, agility is maybe slightly above average and his strength on his skates is fairly average. 

 

Overall I think he's a great pick at 15. There's a reason why many had him in the top 10. He has a good base for his game. Pretty safe pick with projection to be an NHL'er and doesn't have some of the big glaring holes a lot of other players in this draft class had. His shot is what makes him his money, but don't sleep on his playmaking. He's a better playmaker than Hoglander, Boeser, and some of the other forwards that are typically known more for their goal scoring on this team. He's faster than Boeser. Has a quicker release than Boeser, but not the same shooting power as Boeser. Boeser also I feel knows how to get to the spots he needs to a bit better but much of that is experience. Boeser had more raw talent in his shooting ability when we first drafted him but also didn't have the dynamic ability to make passing plays either.

 

Overall I will copy Will Scouch's method of rating where uses a rating system of a number and a letter for the consistency of that number. 1 being the best and A being the most consistent.

 

Think - 1D (has the ability to be a top notch thinker but is pretty inconsistent with it. If he can nail timing down a bit more he can undoubtedly turn into a 1st line player but he has yet to shown nearly the level of consistency for me to believe he will get there permanently which is why I think he will be a top 6 player)

 

Move - 2B (will skate to the areas he needs to be in, has good awareness but lacks high end speed and skating. When fresh I find he is a 2A)

 

Get - 2B (he's pretty consistently making the effort to do the right thing to get the puck but sometimes uses his stick a bit more than I'd like to win the puck battles. Now with that said he has flashes of making some amazingly timed stick checks to check a stick before the puck gets to a player and win some creative battles along the walls. I considered ranking him as 1D but because he isn't really a checking type, I opted for 2B)

 

Pass - 1D ( underrated passing game just needs a little bit more timing to really flesh out some of his creative and quick decision making in terms of dishing the puck. More of a short pass type of player but has a decent east-west game that I like to see in prospects)

 

Shoot - 1B (he has a great shot but would like to see him use his hands more to get to more dangerous spots on the ice to get that shot off)

 

Overall - 2A? (I dunno how to average this out lol.)

 

If you want to know what Scouching ranked him as, here it is: 

 

Think - 2B

Move - 2B

Get - 2C

Pass - 3B

Shoot - 1D

Overall - 2A

 

I disagree with him on his passing but I understand why. I have his passing projected kind of more down the line and with a more dynamic offense such as the NHL level, similar to how I ranked Petey's passing ability and creativity towards an NHL level and I was right about Petey so I hope I'm right here. With that said, he's nowhere in the realm of playmaking that Petey had. Petey was extremely consistent, had great timing and just needed smarter players around him. Also he was a great distance playmaker as well in which Lek isn't. But the potential is there as I understand why he makes the plays he does and why he will sometimes take a more unorthodoxed approach to dishing the puck when he does and I also think that small area playmaking is a vital skill to have at the NHL level and that quick decision making is the base to having success with your passing so I think fundamentally he has the tools to be really successful in that area of the game. It just needs development.

 

 

Excellent write-up. Thanks for that. More or less jives with everything I've seen from him too. We can understand why people sleep on his playmaking ability largely just by looking at the stats, but he's always making good plays, just not a lot into high danger areas and he is often the one his teammates are looking to find to finish the play.

[HKSR]

5 hours ago, 73 Percent said:

We have 5 days to trade Miller or management has once again dropped the ball. I'm more concerned with that than the draft.

Why is there only 5 days?  Free agency has no bearing on a trade... in fact, it's probably more likely Miller gets moved AFTER free agency when teams that missed out on the top UFAs will circle around to make deals.

[MikeyD]

4 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

 

Excellent write-up. Thanks for that. More or less jives with everything I've seen from him too. We can understand why people sleep on his playmaking ability largely just by looking at the stats, but he's always making good plays, just not a lot into high danger areas and he is often the one his teammates are looking to find to finish the play.

Very well said. Sometimes it's the entries and the secondary assists that are most important. They definitely seem confident to give him the puck to make plays. Ohgren I felt was the better playmaker but from the games I watched they seemed to always want to shuffle him the puck. I don't feel the play died on his stick a lot. He consistently made a lot of good smart plays, similar to Ohgren. Ohgren's playmaking iq was higher, but boy did they work off each other well.

 

I found Ostlund had a lot of plays die on his stick and struggled to think with the puck sometimes. With Ohgren and Lek I found things were very quick with pass and go's and if it fell to Ostlund in a less advantageous area he had to kind of survey the land first as to where Lekkerimaki had his head up prior to receiving the pass. 

 

[73 Percent]

50 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Why is there only 5 days?  Free agency has no bearing on a trade... in fact, it's probably more likely Miller gets moved AFTER free agency when teams that missed out on the top UFAs will circle around to make deals.

Less cap space available and teams have already landed their big fish for their top 6.

[flickyoursedin]

42 minutes ago, Muttley said:

 

Sounding like our 1st round pick is about as good as could be hoped for. Not bad !

I think the nice thing is that when management told us BPA was their path especially early in the draft they weren’t lying. Other teams prioritized centers and dmen which led some wingers to slide in the draft. Lekkerimaki was the best player available!