Jonathan Lekkerimäki | RW

[Gawdzukes]

On 8/31/2023 at 3:47 AM, Elias Pettersson said:

Kuzmenko        Pettersson      Mikheyev

Podkolzin         Miller               Lekkerimaki

Frederic           Raty                Klimovich

Joshua             Aman              Karlsson

 

I think Boeser will be traded, especially if Lekkerimaki is the real deal and can play in the top 6.  Also, we need more truculence in the lineup.  I would trade Rathbone, Hoglander and McDonough to Boston for Trent Frederic and Ryan Mast...

Arvidsson, Duclair, Bertuzzi, or Domi, might be options if Podkolzin doesn't show a big improvement. Maybe a trade for an up and coming 25/26 year old player. That line-up needs some toughness though and two way play added to Lekk, Kuz, and Petey. Frederic and Klimovich seem like reaches at this point. It would be very exciting to see Klimovich put it together though. Or maybe even target a center like Scheifle, or Reinhart, and push Miller to the wing.

[Elias Pettersson]

1 hour ago, Gawdzukes said:

Arvidsson, Duclair, Bertuzzi, or Domi, might be options if Podkolzin doesn't show a big improvement. Maybe a trade for an up and coming 25/26 year old player. That line-up needs some toughness though and two way play added to Lekk, Kuz, and Petey. Frederic and Klimovich seem like reaches at this point. It would be very exciting to see Klimovich put it together though. Or maybe even target a center like Scheifle, or Reinhart, and push Miller to the wing.

Miller actually plays better at centre.  Just need to play with him a defensive winger like Mikheyev or even Podkolzin.  Even Pearson would work.  Definitely not Beauvillier though, or Garland, or Hoglander.  I like Klimovich.  One thing I'd like to do this year is watch some Abby games.  My friend lives out that way and when I go to visit I always mention going to see an Abby game.  I'll probably do it this year.  want to watch Klimovich and Raty live as well as Silovs and McDonough...

[JeremyCuddles]

Ya know, I feel like Lekkerimaki is gonna be that prospect I slept on that really makes me wonder why I never gave him more respect. 

[DrJockitch]

9 hours ago, higgyfan said:

I am curious to see how Brock looks after a couple of weeks of regular season.  It sounds like he has taken

the offseason very serious, so maybe he returns with a new passion for the game.  That would be great

for the team; whether he gets a great return in a trade, or if he re-signs at an appropriate $ and term.

In 2 yrs, we will see some new faces on the team coming up from Abby (and other leagues).

 

Just for fun, I put together potential FW players in 2 yrs; not including the 2 recent drafts and mostly

from Abby, as they are more ready for the NHL. 

 

Kuze?    Pete       Boeser

Podz        Millsy      Lekker

Mik/Joshua    Raty     Klim/Karlsson

Bloom/Bains    Aman/Sasson  

                        Nielsen

 

The next 2 seasons will be a very interesting year for the Abby team.  We could see a couple of graduates

during the coming season and then more the next.  4 or 5 ECLs will create some decent cap space to

improve the weaker areas on the team.

Raty and Klim have looked much better but have a ways to go. EP, JT, Suter, Bluger, Aman and Dries are ahead of Raty on the depth chart at C at this point and about 52 wingers ahead of Klim, I don’t see them getting much time this year. I think that is a good thing though.  They need more time in the AHL, they are only 20. 
Season after would expect them seeing more time in NHL and when the OEL penalty kicks up in 2 years seems more reasonable timeline for them to be breaking into league. Never know though, someone may come in and blow the doors off. 

[higgyfan]

5 hours ago, DrJockitch said:

Raty and Klim have looked much better but have a ways to go. EP, JT, Suter, Bluger, Aman and Dries are ahead of Raty on the depth chart at C at this point and about 52 wingers ahead of Klim, I don’t see them getting much time this year. I think that is a good thing though.  They need more time in the AHL, they are only 20. 
Season after would expect them seeing more time in NHL and when the OEL penalty kicks up in 2 years seems more reasonable timeline for them to be breaking into league. Never know though, someone may come in and blow the doors off. 

The guy I was responding to was talking about 2yrs from now (when Brock's contract expires).  Laying

out the various prospects and the possibilities in 2 yrs shows some interesting options.  I'm not expecting

a lot this season; I would be happy to see better defensive coverage and hardworking team.  Maybe get 

a round in the playoffs, but it's more important how the team plays together and commit to the plan.

 

 

 

[Gawdzukes]

9 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

Miller actually plays better at centre.  Just need to play with him a defensive winger like Mikheyev or even Podkolzin.  Even Pearson would work.  Definitely not Beauvillier though, or Garland, or Hoglander.  I like Klimovich.  One thing I'd like to do this year is watch some Abby games.  My friend lives out that way and when I go to visit I always mention going to see an Abby game.  I'll probably do it this year.  want to watch Klimovich and Raty live as well as Silovs and McDonough...

Yeah Miller was pretty good to end the year ... I wouldn't say he was necessarily better ... yet. However my thoughts were more so we might have better luck finding a rugged center than a winger. It's sparse on both fronts.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[HighOnHockey]

Look like Pettersson has cemented his spot on the third pairing. They're still trying Lekkerimaki on different lines, trying to find where's the best fit for him right now. I'd expect he settles in somewhere in the middle six, and second powerplay unit. Anyway, games starting, here we go.

[HighOnHockey]

Well pretty much everything positive ran through Lekkerimaki on that powerplay.

[HighOnHockey]

And sure enough there's another Lekkerimaki powerplay goal.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[204CanucksFan]

43 minutes ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

 

[HighOnHockey]

OK that was a pretty slick example of Lekkerimaki's playmaking/transition game right there. He was on his right side board just inside his own blueline and his defenseman rung it around to him. He had a forechecker closing in on him but a little time. His center was heading to the right boards up around the red line and it would have been an ok play to just chip it up to him, but he cradled the puck, pulled up, took a quick second to survey, and the secondary forechecker was drifting to the right side to cover the center, and instead he rifled it diagonally across to his left wing at the far blue line for a clean entry.

Edited September 7, 2023 by HighOnHockey

[250Integra]

1 hour ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

 

That's a vintage Nazzy release

[HighOnHockey]

I've been watching the KHL Magnitogorsk game during the intermissions, and I hate to say it but Yurov is without question still looking like the better NHL prospect than Lekkerimaki. Hard to fault the Canucks for that one though, as almost every team passed on him at least once (including Minnesota lol). I guess we'll see how things play out with the Russia situation. Currently Yurov has just one year left on his KHL contract and to me he looks like he could be NHL-ready next year.

 

As good as Lekkerimaki has looked this pre-season when he or his team has the puck, he's still a bit of a mess in his own zone. Just getting stronger will go a long way to rectifying that, but he also needs to focus on staying below the puck and not cheating for the exit before it's there, even in those small ways that don't seem to amount to much to a junior player but can make or break a shift at the NHL level.

Edited September 7, 2023 by HighOnHockey

[Warhippy]

1 hour ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

 

I hate that I am about to make this comparison but that release, the leg drop and shake and the leaning stance look a LOT like a former Canuck and while I hate making the comparisons it's eerily similar to a former captain for the team in one Markus Naslund

 

Again this is not necessarily a comparison.  Just a similar style of shot.  That lean, that quick release and that one leg jog before he sends it.  A lot of similarities in shooting style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VS Lekkerimaki

 

 

 

 

[sashimii]

15 hours ago, 250Integra said:

That's a vintage Nazzy release

Not really. It's a nice shot for sure, but he doesn't shoot like Naslund.

 

Lekkerimaki shoots right. Their shots look very different actually.

[250Integra]

5 hours ago, sashimii said:

Not really. It's a nice shot for sure, but he doesn't shoot like Naslund.

 

Lekkerimaki shoots right. Their shots look very different actually.

You don't think I know that Naslund shoots left?  

 

I just said it's a similar release.

[higgyfan]

22 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

I've been watching the KHL Magnitogorsk game during the intermissions, and I hate to say it but Yurov is without question still looking like the better NHL prospect than Lekkerimaki. Hard to fault the Canucks for that one though, as almost every team passed on him at least once (including Minnesota lol). I guess we'll see how things play out with the Russia situation. Currently Yurov has just one year left on his KHL contract and to me he looks like he could be NHL-ready next year.

 

As good as Lekkerimaki has looked this pre-season when he or his team has the puck, he's still a bit of a mess in his own zone. Just getting stronger will go a long way to rectifying that, but he also needs to focus on staying below the puck and not cheating for the exit before it's there, even in those small ways that don't seem to amount to much to a junior player but can make or break a shift at the NHL level.

He would have been a great pick for sure.  Canuck Army were high on him and thought he would be a

great pickup for the Canucks.  He is exactly the kind of player the Canucks need and his contract

with the KHL is in its final year.  Apparently the Wild are wanting to develop him as a C.

 

Like you said; there were a lot of issues around picking a Russian player right now and that is why he

fell to 24th.  After all, he was ranked in the top 10, so the Wild took a chance and will likely end up

being the winner.

[Citizen Erased]

6 hours ago, higgyfan said:

He would have been a great pick for sure.  Canuck Army were high on him and thought he would be a

great pickup for the Canucks.  He is exactly the kind of player the Canucks need and his contract

with the KHL is in its final year.  Apparently the Wild are wanting to develop him as a C.

 

Like you said; there were a lot of issues around picking a Russian player right now and that is why he

fell to 24th.  After all, he was ranked in the top 10, so the Wild took a chance and will likely end up

being the winner.

You just never know what can happen with draft picks. Canucks and other teams could have had Jagr, but he made it clear he would only come to the NHL to play with his idol, Mario Lemieux.