The Vancouver Canucks will finally see their top prospect play close to home this season as 2022 first-round pick Jonathan Lekkerimaki will be playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Abbotsford Canucks. It has been a long road for the 15th overall pick as he has battled through injury and adversity but he is now much closer to his NHL dream. That dream may take place this season as he could be called up to play games in Vancouver. The bigger question is will he get called up and if so, for how many games?
Will Lekkerimaki Play in the NHL This Season?
The Canucks truly believe in Lekkerimaki and feel as though he is going to be an NHL player, if they did not then they would not have originally drafted him in 2022 and signed him to an entry-level contract (ELC) back in 2023. The organization has liked what he has developed into and is looking forward to seeing what he can bring at the AHL level. However, he still needs to prove to the organization that he can be an NHL player this season, play important minutes for the team, and be a contributor. So he will need at least 20 games in the AHL playing with the Abbotsford Canucks before general manager Patrik Alvin and company can consider the decision of calling him up to play games in Vancouver. But that does not mean that he is unable to do these things because he is.
In only six games with Abbotsford after finishing his 2023-24 season in Sweden, Lekkerimaki was able to put two points on the board and even scored his first career AHL goal. He has already shown that he can at least play at the North American level and even become effective for his team. He was productive at every single level in his time in Sweden even after he missed time with injury. He was also dominant at the World Junior tournament for Sweden this past Christmas as he scored 10 points in seven games leading Sweden to a silver medal. He has the capability and skill set to become a very prominent AHL player and someone fans should watch while he is in Abbotsford. If he can sustain that recent success from his past into his time in the AHL, I could see him getting the popular nine-game tryout that teams like to give their young players.
Canucks’ Winger Depth
A problem that Lekkerimaki faces is the depth chart that the Vancouver Canucks have at forward and especially on the right wing. Right now, the team is set with Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, and new signings Daniel Sprong and Keifer Sherwood. Even if Lekkerimaki felt comfortable playing left wing, the Canucks are also set there with Nils Hoglander, Dakota Joshua, and newly acquired free agents Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen. It looks like Vancouver has a lot of faith in those eight players and expects that they will be the winger core for this upcoming season. That is bad news for Lekkerimaki as he hopes to crack the roster out of training camp or at least get a good stretch of games with the team at some point this season.
What could work in Lekkerimaki’s favour is the unfortunate reality of hockey, which is injuries. Someone at some point this season is going to get injured in Vancouver and the team will need to replace them. Depending on who gets hurt, Lekkerimaki may be at the top of Vancouver’s list of players that they can call up. Or if he plays better than some of the NHL players, he could jump up the winger depth chart and prove that he does deserve a spot on the Canucks roster. Although that does seem highly unlikely as this is his first full season of North American hockey, he has the skill set to impress Canucks management and potentially earn an opportunity to play NHL games.
The possibility of Lekkerimaki playing in the NHL this season is 50/50 in my eyes. He has the skills to be an NHL player and might get called up for a couple of games. But he still needs to develop more and with the Canucks depth chart being already set, I don’t believe we will be seeing much of him in the NHL this season. He will have a much better chance at being on the Canucks’ roster come training camp in 2025.
