Jonathan Lekkerimäki | RW

[R3aL]

39 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Wright is pissed... he's gonna light it up for sure.  Kinda reminds me of Chychrun falling all the way down to the mid 1st round.  He had a serious chip on his shoulder after that and he's proving a ton of people wrong. 

Not good for us though …

[Bure_Pavel]

1 hour ago, 73 Percent said:

Yeah it wouldn't surprise me if he topped out at 6'1 200..which is average. 

 

It's no secret that I'm unhappy with most of the last 2 days but I'm thrilled with this pick. He wasn't on my radar because I thought he'd be looooong gone by 15.

 

I depends on his current height, he was not measured at the combine. My guess would be 5'10.5" 172 lbs. Likely tops out at 6' 190lbs if he grows more, hard to predict though everyone is different. I do think he will be fine in the NHL though once he adds some strength, will just have to keep his head up.  

[Nucker 67]

2 hours ago, HKSR said:

Wright is pissed... he's gonna light it up for sure.

That's unfortunate, seeing as he's now a Canucks division rival

[guntrix]

Allvin going BPA instead of picking on organizational need. This is good, this is very good. 

[Alflives]

5 minutes ago, Muttley said:

 

So many of those US players are “punks”.  So glad they lost and we got the guy who made the LOSER AMERICANS cry.

[Alflives]

7 minutes ago, Muttley said:

 

Really like that our guy was the #1 choice for taking the PP drop pass to carry the puck into the D zone.  Shows just how smart he is.  Damn this pick has got us another elite key core piece!  Thank God Benning is gone and we have our high picks again. 

[HighOnHockey]

4 hours ago, R3aL said:

My steals were:

 

1. Wright

2. Lekkerimaki

3. Kemell

4. Miro

5. Yurov

6. Kulich

7. Howard

 

Amazing value for draft position for all of them.

 

4 hours ago, Bure_Pavel said:

I think Lambert and Luneau will look like really good value in hindsight as well.

Steals of the draft in my opinion: Lekkerimaki at 15, Howard 31, Casey 46, Luneau 53, Odelius 65.

 

Best reaches for me - hard to really know what was a reach without seeing other teams' lists, but just going by media rankings - Reid Schaefer at 32, Cam Lund 34, Topias Leinonen 41, Gavin Hayes 66.

[higgyfan]

3 hours ago, HKSR said:

Wright is pissed... he's gonna light it up for sure.  Kinda reminds me of Chychrun falling all the way down to the mid 1st round.  He had a serious chip on his shoulder after that and he's proving a ton of people wrong. 

I don't know why he's so put out.  Slafkovsky was considered the #1 pick by an awful lot of people and NJ had the

luxury of using their pick for a team need.  Sure,  the Coyotes went out on a limb, but hey...who you want to play

for, the Coyotes with their tiny arena and 500 fans; or the Kraken that have a real fan base and a great arena?

 

Neither is probably what you're thinking, but one of them were bound to pick him anyways.

 

[Smashian Kassian]

On 7/7/2022 at 6:11 PM, Fanuck said:

 

 

 

0:32

 

Handles this poor bobbling pass like nothing & quickly puts it in the back of the net. Terrific touch.

[Warhippy]

Anyone else already trying to figure out letterkenney lekkerkenney references yet or just me?

 

Nah

 

k just me

 

[stanleysteamersmyl]

22 hours ago, Goal:thecup said:

Wearing the tricolor 23 my mind went to Thomas Gradin, my favorite player back in his day.

Tommy stood up to all the rigors of the worst goon show stuff (some of them went to jail for their stuff on the ice).

 

He did it all with his head held high (thank Gaudette) and never looked down at the puck.

Scored beauty after beauty; and pass?  Ya, that's how you do it.

 

Meanwhile in Ranting Ignorance Ville, Don Cherry was spouting off about Chicken Swedes.

It's not the toughest guy; it's the guy that stands up.

 

Thanks Thomas, and super satisfied that you have continued to do such good work for the Canucks.

Heja Sverige!

 

Lekkerimaki (sounds Finnish, doesn't it?) looks like a meaner Pettersson.

23 is one more reason I think we should retire sweaters, and not numbers (hint: Montreal does that and they don't run out of numbers or forget #9).

 

Great pick!  I don't think any of us had that right.

Thomas Gradin is one of the most talent, classy players to play for the Vancouver Canucks.  He was also one of the toughest Canucks who never back down in the fighting, holding, slashing era.  His bodyguards Smyl and Fraser were pretty good players too.

I was fortunate to meet him a couple of times at my work.  He talked hockey for 10 minutes with us.  Nice man.  

[Fanuck]

Why are people acting like Wright is somehow going to be better now that he was passed over by a few teams rather than being 1st?   If this is the situation then maybe we have the reason why he was passed over?  Shouldn't any team that drafted him, at any number, expect his absolute best no matter what?

[stawns]

1 hour ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

0:32

 

Handles this poor bobbling pass like nothing & quickly puts it in the back of the net. Terrific touch.

kids got some hands

[HKSR]

1 hour ago, Fanuck said:

Why are people acting like Wright is somehow going to be better now that he was passed over by a few teams rather than being 1st?   If this is the situation then maybe we have the reason why he was passed over?  Shouldn't any team that drafted him, at any number, expect his absolute best no matter what?

It's a human thing and not something that is purely statistical.  Having something to play for, having a chip on your shoulder, etc makes a difference.   How often do we hear, "They just wanted it more."  

You can bet it's probably something that motivated Chychrun as well.  

[Smashian Kassian]

I like this pick. Big upside.

 

His shot is obviously elite. Can score distance with his wrister & his one timer is an absolute cannon. Hands aren't far behind either, great touch with the puck whether its controlling it on a rush, in tight areas, or a pass not coming smoothly. (An underrated attribute in the NHL game imo)

 

Pretty smart playmaker w/ good vision too. His tendency is finding a shot like most snipers, but he's not a tunnel vision shooter - seems like an area he's really improved on, becoming a dual threat. You can see just watching highlights some of the plays he makes & how he finds teammates that aren't an obvious pass. Smart offensive player in general.

 

Knock would be a lack of separation speed & physical immaturity (to be expected). Hopefully a more powerful stride comes with getting stronger, or he's able to adjust his stride. That would give him even more upside. 

 

He's only 17 but there's a ton of promise, a gifted offensive player. This could be the kind of impact scorer we'll need coming in on an ELC.

[R3aL]

2 hours ago, Fanuck said:

Why are people acting like Wright is somehow going to be better now that he was passed over by a few teams rather than being 1st?   If this is the situation then maybe we have the reason why he was passed over?  Shouldn't any team that drafted him, at any number, expect his absolute best no matter what?

He was 1 on lot of teams and scouts boards that’s why. And he’s been expecting and building towards being 1 for years. And he was passed on by a Canadian team when he thought they were gonna take him.

 

these kids are hyper competitive 

 

he gave them a death stare like ur gonna regret this too 

 

he’s got another log on the motivation fire 

[Nave]

I'm happy we got Lekkermaki; and happy for him. He looked so emotional walking to the stage. What a moment. 

[spook007]

6 hours ago, higgyfan said:

I don't know why he's so put out.  Slafkovsky was considered the #1 pick by an awful lot of people and NJ had the

luxury of using their pick for a team need.  Sure,  the Coyotes went out on a limb, but hey...who you want to play

for, the Coyotes with their tiny arena and 500 fans; or the Kraken that have a real fan base and a great arena?

 

Neither is probably what you're thinking, but one of them were bound to pick him anyways.

 

True....

Still, I'm sure for personal pride at least, it still matters, at which number you get picked....

Remember 'it is, what it is....'

He was quoted saying, he should be 1OA, so probably the first real slap in the face the boy has had...

[McBackup]

9 hours ago, higgyfan said:

or the Kraken that have a real fan base and a great arena?

 

Lol

[hammertime]

16 hours ago, Muttley said:

 

This is hard for me to watch. I was really hoping watching these that I would see something I was missing with him when I watched the games the first time around and was tryng to watch all of the players of interest. #23

 

Pro's: I see a player that is incredibly offence minded. He offers great puck support in the offensive zone. He's good with quick stick lifts and pick plays to support team mates. He's sneaky af back door slides into open ice and we all know what he can do with his shot. He's got really good shake n bake getting defenders to move one way then catching them flat footed. I can see where his goal totals are coming from and it is hugely encouraging that he's able to score from everywhere and beat goalies clean. I also like that at least he was making superficial contact finishing some checks 

 

Cons: Pretty sure he didn't make a single play on the defensive side of the puck in this entire 23min video. He's not Pete. Not one take away, not one hard backcheck. I saw a kid flying the zone the moment his team touched the puck looking to poach a breakaway on every puck possession.

Maybe he was instructed to do this I don't know? When he did get those opportunities he didn't have the separation speed and was easily neutralized on one occasion leading to a goal against where he could have curled and waited for puck support maintaining possession.

 

 

Camping out completely covered for that 2 line pass. 

 

 

I won't go through the whole thing but you get the idea. I need to see more than goal scoring from him to get excited about. It's a good shift by shift there is lots to watch he's involved all of the time and his team is really looking to run the offence through his stick. 

 

I really hope that we can get him in camp and relay some messages to him. He is incredibly talented but there are aspects he is going to need to take seriously to reach his NHL potential. I really want to see this kid evolve into an elite all situations goal scorer. 

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by hammertime