How good was Jonathan Lekkerimäki in his first game in the NHL?
The hype leading up to Jonathan Lekkerimäki’s first NHL game is understandable. It’s been three years since the last time a player drafted in the first round by the Vancouver Canucks made his NHL debut, back when Vasily Podkolzin started his rookie season in 2021.
It’s the kind of debut that deserves a closer look to tease out just what made him effective in his 14 minutes of ice time. So, I went shift-by-shift and re-watched his entire performance to break it all down. That was an inauspicious start, but Lekkerimäki followed it up with an eye-catching play as he deked around Jonathan Huberdeau in the neutral zone, gained the offensive zone with a pass to Suter, then went to the net looking for a scoring chance.
Perhaps Lekkerimäki could have sealed off the boards to prevent the second clearance but he was also looking for a soft spot to get open in case Miller and Suter won the puck along the boards, so I can’t fault him. Not all shifts are going to result in anything. Eventually, Lekkerimäki left the middle of the ice to chase a hit, which left Ryan Lomberg open for a chance. Fortunately, he didn’t get much on his shot, so it wasn’t an issue.
Shift 5 | 8:51 - 8:18, first period Lekkerimäki took a pass from Miller in the neutral zone and sent the puck in deep again for a Miller forecheck. This forecheck was more successful than the last, as the puck came free to Lekkerimäki, who moved the puck to Filip Hronek at the point, who relayed it to Hughes, who unfortunately hit Miller in a delicate area with his shot.
He then applied good pressure before rotating up high to become F3 in the neutral zone as Miller and Suter jumped up in the forecheck, so that he was in position to pressure the puck carrier in the neutral zone and pick up a loose puck after Tyler Myers broke up the zone entry. Shift 8 | 20:00 - 19:37, second period The Canucks started the second period on the power play, with Lekkerimäki skating on the top unit despite practicing with the second unit earlier in the week.
It was a dominant shift by the Miller line and Lekkerimäki got it started with a clean zone entry off a deflected pass from Vincent Desharnais. Lekkerimäki later took a pass from Miller and, instead of trying to jam a pass through traffic, smartly moved the puck back to Erik Brännström at the point. Shift 10 | 14:49 - 14:01, second period This shift featured the best chance of the game for the Flames with Lekkerimäki on the ice, though it wasn’t his fault. Suter turned the puck over at the blue line, giving Martin Pospisil a breakaway.
That nearly led to Lekkerimäki’s first NHL point, as Hughes set up a Miller one-timer that Vladar had to be alert to stop. Shift 13 | 6:05 - 5:32, second period This was a largely uneventful shift. Lekkerimäki had a pass blocked in the neutral zone but then took another pass and dumped the puck in for a forechecking sequence. He battled well along the wall and got away with what probably should have been a holding penalty against Bahl. That’s about it.
You can bet the roof would have blown off Rogers Arena if Miller had connected with Lekkerimäki and he had finished on the breakaway. Shift 18 | 13:02 - 12:20, third period Lekkerimäki already has good defensive awareness. On his 18th shift of the game, he was alert after a Carson Soucy turnover and got back to knock the puck off Kuzmenko’s stick to prevent a scoring chance.
The Flames seemed to have a lot of respect for Lekkerimäki’s shot, as their diamond played tightly on him in the bumper, making it tough for his teammates to find him for a shot.
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