Canucks’ Jonathan Lekkerimaki entering massive development year

PENTICTON – When he was drafted 15th overall by the Vancouver Canucks four years ago, Jonathan Lekkerimaki immediately became the biggest fish in a prospect pool so shallow that you could have waded through it without getting your shoelaces wet.

The Canucks, under previous general manager Jim Benning, had just gone through a pair of drafts in which they selected only twice in the top 112 and not higher than 41 st .

Lekkerimaki instantly became the National Hockey League organization’s No. 1 prospect, a scoring winger whose development was going to be crucial for the future.

A year later, the Canucks drafted Tom Willander, who has already become an NHL regular on defence alongside Elias Pettersson (Junior), selected 65 spots behind Lekkerimaki in 2022.

In the last two drafts, the Canucks added Braeden Cootes, Caleb Malhotra, Adam Novotny and Brooks Rogowski, and last season’s trade with the Minnesota Wild also brought to Vancouver Zeev Buium and Liam Ohgren , Lekkerimaki’s friend and former junior teammate in Sweden.

“Prospects” is a bit of a catch-all term, but all of these young players project ahead of Lekkerimaki, who has demonstrated scoring chops at the American League level (33 goals in 63 games) but little in various call-ups with the Canucks (five goals and nine points in 37 NHL games).

Mostly, Lekkerimaki has struggled to stay healthy, and last season he was shut down in February for shoulder surgery due to an injury initially sustained during an October game against the Washington Capitals.

At 22 years old, the right-shot winger obviously still has time to build an NHL career. But the clock is ticking, and with his waivers-free period ending at the start of next season, this is a massive development year for Lekkerimaki.

“You can learn from that,” the soft-spoken Swede said of his fight for fitness. “It’s a tough league to play in and you’ve got to prepare as much as you can. I think I’ve learned a lot and it’s fun to be back.

“But it is a learning process. My first two years (in North America), I was up and down. I tried to learn every day. But now I feel like it’s my third year, I’m more used to everything. I know Manny, know the system, so I’m more prepared now.”

Before coaching the Canucks, Manny Malhotra was Lekkerimaki’s coach in Abbotsford the last two seasons. And Ryan Johnson, Lekkerimaki’s minor-league GM and development supervisor, is now running the NHL team.

Lekkerimaki should benefit from this familiarity, and both Malhotra and Johnson have been preaching patience with regard to all of their prospects. But Lekkerimaki has to help himself on the ice, too.

Neither especially fast nor elusive, Lekkerimaki must find his way to scoring areas at the NHL level while being stronger in puck battles and along the boards.

In the pre-season opener Saturday night in Seattle, Lekkerimaki had a pair of second assists on goals by linemates Cootes and Arshdeep Bains, but also lost the puck behind Vancouver’s net on the final goal of a 4-2 loss to the Kraken by an inexperienced Canucks team.