The Montreal Canadiens are entering the final stretch run of the regular season. The NHL trade deadline looms large as it is only a few weeks away, and then the final games of the season will be played to see if the Habs end the season with a top-five or a top-ten draft pick at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
Related: Sean Monahan Trade Leaves Canadiens with a Gap at Center
While the fans look ahead to the future, for some of the players on the roster, this is their moment to earn a contract, to prove they belong in the NHL or to carve out a niche role on the Canadiens roster. All of this is true for Jesse Ylonen as this is what he has an opportunity to prove here and now.
Canadiens Searching for Scoring
Montreal has been searching for a solution to their secondary scoring woes for a few seasons, and they may have a solution to fill in for a top-nine winger. Ylonen, a second-round pick, selected 38th overall by the Canadiens in 2018 was signed to a one-year two-way contract in the summer of 2023 which was a “show me” type of deal.
He had a good training camp, but nothing spectacular. The fact that he was no longer waiver-exempt forced general manager (GM) Kent Hughes’ hand in keeping him on the roster instead of the likely outcome of losing him on waivers. It has been clear all season long that the challenge was laid at his feet, to step up in a role, and force management to keep him instead of someone else. So far, he has only really been getting fourth-line opportunities and he works on the fourth line, which is fine as it is always a bonus to have a player that can play with speed in your bottom six, however, he has, at times, shown himself capable of more.
In that game against the Vegas Golden Knights, when given the opportunity, he stood out for the Canadiens lighting the lamp twice in a span of 3:25 of the second period. Unfortunately, he was unable to sustain that level of chance generation. With the incredibly harsh internal competition for a long-term middle-six NHL job between him, Joshua Roy, Emil Heineman, Filip Mesar and many others, Ylonen has an ideal opportunity to skip the line on the depth chart and do so at the NHL level right now.
Canadiens’ Solution to Depth Scoring
Ylonen has played on the fourth line for virtually the entirety of his 94-game NHL career, including the 42 games he has dressed this season. The 24-year-old forward is averaging only 10:17 per game, which is less ice time than anyone on the roster not named Michael Pezzetta.
His offensive skills are known, as he can score from distance with his great release, or he can play shootout hero with his speed and quick hands. But it is his defensive abilities that will earn him the role as he has been playing a regular shift on the penalty-killing units.
“YLo’s (Ylonen) role right now is to kill penalties. A player’s value goes up if he can show he is capable of that. I have confidence in him.”
– Martin St. Louis (La valeur à la bonne place, Simon Olivier Lorange, La Presse, Oct. 22, 2023)
As a Finnish-born and trained player, Ylonen plays a style of game that coaches love, a speed game with a focus on two-way responsibilities. Canadiens fans may remember the style Artturi Lehkonen played with Montreal in his years in the city, which is hard to forget considering his clutch goal that sent the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. Like Lehkonen, Ylonen has the potential to become a 15-goal-per-season threat on a third line. While Ylonen has a clear advantage with the better shot and offensive instincts, he lags behind the current Colorado Avalanche forward defensively. They both have a strong desire on the forecheck and that is where Ylonen can force his way up the lineup, if he begins to show that commitment consistently.
Canadiens’ Opportunities Await
Call it having good luck from someone else’s poor luck, but with Raphael Harvey-Pinard having just been placed on injured reserve and Brendan Gallagher still out for two more games on suspension, the door is wide open for Ylonen to step up into a top-nine role and showcase himself.
Considering that the majority of the shift starts by the young winger are in the defensive zone and as a fourth liner, having 40.46 expected goals for percentage (18th on the roster this season) is a respectable number. What underlines his untapped offensive potential is his 156 scoring chances for this season, which is an average of 3.71 per game played and 71 high-danger scoring chances for (1.7 per game played).
He doesn’t necessarily need to be generating scoring chances at a higher rate than he currently is, he just needs to show better consistency in his play. With the lack of depth available to Montreal at the moment, he will need to become more of a threat offensively. At times this season, when paired with better linemates, Ylonen has shown he can be what the Habs drafted him to be, a two-way top-nine winger who is an offensive threat. If he wants to cement himself as a top-nine winger with the Canadiens, his time to shine is now.
