Even with missed time, the Swedish winger’s stats hold up well when you place them against players picked in his vicinity in the 2022 NHL Draft
Injury updates on Abbotsford are difficult to come by, but word is there’s a flu bug that has been going through the team.
Lekkerimäki is up to 18 goals and 26 points through 30 AHL games this season. The 5-foot-11, 172-pound right shot has missed time with Abbotsford with both with injuries and call-ups to Vancouver. He has played 11 games with the big club, scoring twice in that time.
The Canucks took Lekkerimäki with the No. 15 overall pick three years ago.
With the pick before that one, the Winnipeg Jets chose winger Rutger McGroarty out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. The Jets dealt the 6-foot-1, 205-pound McGroarty to the Pittsburgh Penguins last August, and through 48 games in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins the 20-year-old has eight goals and 28 points. He has seen action with Pittsburgh for three games as well.
Lekkerimäki projects as a shooter, a guy who will look to set up for one-timers on the power play. Ahead of the 2022 draft, Elite Prospects pegged McGroarty as a player who “relentlessly attacks the inside, combining skill and physicality.”
Two picks before Vancouver chose Lekkerimäki, the Chicago Blackhawks went for centre Frank Nazar from the USNTDP.The 21-year-old is with the big club, and has four goals and 12 points in 28 NHL games this season. He has had 11 goals and 24 points in 21 AHL games as well with the Rockford IceHogs.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Nazar was praised by Elite Prospects ahead of the draft for his “subtle” game, with an explanation that “the more you pay attention to Nazar, the more you appreciate his offensive genius.”
With the pick after Lekkerimäki, the Buffalo Sabres took Swedish centre Noah Östlund. The 20-year-old has seven goals and 18 points in 30 AHL games with the Rochester Americans, and Elite Prospects saw the 5-foot-11, 174-pound Östlund as a “dynamic, shifty playmaker,” ahead of the draft.
At No. 17, the Nashville Predators called on Finnish winger Joakim Kemell. The 5-foot-11, 191-pound Kemell is in the AHL as well, and had amassed 11 goals and 29 points through 45 games with the Milwaukee Admirals going into Tuesday night. He has made two appearances with Nashville as well.
The 20-year-old was pegged as a scorer by Elite Prospects, who stated that he “anticipates pockets of space well,” and “arrives as the puck does for shooting opportunities,” in their pre-draft scouting report.
All that circles us back to Lekkerimäki, who continues to sit atop our Canucks top-10 prospect power rankings. To be considered, players can’t have been born after 2000, and they are not eligible when they’re with the big club.
Last week’s rankings are in parenthesis. All stats are as of Tuesday morning.
1. Jonathan Lekkerimäki, RW, Abbotsford (1)
Lekkerimäki (30-18-8-26) is fourth in goals amongst AHL rookies. Abbotsford lost 3-2 on Saturday in Tucson and then 4-3 in overtime there on Sunday. Abbotsford (27-21-2-1) is at Calgary on Friday and Saturday. They are fifth in the 10-team Pacific Division with eight weeks to go in the regular season.
2. Tom Willander, D, Boston University Terriers (2)
The No. 10 nationally ranked Terriers (18-12-1) were slated to visits No. 9 UConn (17-10-3) Tuesday night. BU is coming off a weekend split with unranked Northeastern, losing 5-1 at home and winning 3-1 on the road. Willander (30-2-17-19) had an assist in the victory. The 20-year-old sophomore was a 2023 first-round pick.
3. Aatu Räty, C, Abbotsford (3)
Part of the trade return in the January 2023 deal with the New York Islanders for Bo Horvat, Räty (31-13-17-30) had a goal in Saturday’s 3-2 loss in Tucson. The 22-year-old had missed Abbotsford’s previous two games.
4. Kirill Kudryavtsev, D, Abbotsford (4)
Kudryavtsev (45-3-19-22) had an assist in Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the San Diego Gulls. The 21-year-old, who was a 2022 seventh rounder, sits second on the team in plus-minus, with his plus-eight trailing only the plus-nine put forth by winger Linus Karlsson.
5. Riley Patterson, C, Barrie Colts (6)
A 10-game point streak for Patterson (53-22-31-53) came to an end with a 4-1 loss to Kitchener on Friday, but the 18-year-old was back adding to his totals Saturday, recording an assist in a 4-3 win over Peterborough. Patterson was a 2024 fourth rounder. Barrie (34-18-2-2) holds down the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and visits Guelph on Wednesday.
6. Sawyer Mynio, D, Calgary Hitmen (7)
The 19-year-old Mynio (38-10-22-32), who was a 2023 third rounder,had an assist in a 5-1 win over Moose Jaw on Saturday. Calgary (37-15-3-2), who are third seed in the East, host Swift Current on Wednesday.
7. Ty Mueller, C, Abbotsford (5)
Mueller (46-8-17-25) didn’t play in the Tucson games. No word from the club on why. The 21-year-old was a 2023 fourth rounder.
8. Max Sasson, C, Abbotsford (8)
Sasson (27-7-8-15) had a goal and an assist Sunday. The 24-year-old was a March 2023 free-agent signing.
9. Danila Klimovich, RW, Abbotsford (9)
The 22-year-old Klimovich (44-15-7-22) had an assist Saturday. He was 2021 second rounder.
10. Anthony Romani, RW, Barrie (10)
The 2024 sixth rounder recorded a goal and two assists in a 6-4 loss to Kingston last Tuesday but then was blanked in three games. The 19-year-old Romani (23-10-5-15) returned to action in mid-January from a broke clavicle.