Confirmed with Link: Artturi Lehkonen (1 Year @ $2.3M)

[Aces on the road]

Would rather have given 4 years to Lekhonen and 1 to Armia in my opinion

Why?

 

[Miller Time]

A hedge signing...

If he builds on the po play, and excels as a versatile middle 6 regular next year, sucks for us as his next deal will be much higher cap hit...

If he struggles or gets scratched again next year, then the 1 year deal buffers us both from long-term repercussions & makes it easier to move him for futures before the deadline

I get it... don't agree... would've preferred getting him at 2-4yrs as I bet 2.5-3M gets that done.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Still believe lehkonen has breakout potential. I just love his game, but I am willing to finally concede that that is probably not the case. I prefer his game over Armia’s for sure.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I was hoping they might be able to get some term on his next deal but I can see how him and his agent might still be hoping that he'll have his big breakout year on offense . He's a really good depth guy in any case, I take him on my team any time.

On a team that has little speed to start with and which has now lost Danault permanently and Byron temporarily, Lehkonen’s superior skating ability is more important to the team than ever.

 

[swimmer77]

If he would ever start to bury the chances he gets he would be a little gold mine. Heart and soul. And that GOAL is one to remember. It was a pleasure to watch again in this thread.

 

[Lshap]

Lehks has a talent for generating golden opportunities that miss the net. Frustrating as hell during the season, but then he morphs into the Hulk during the playoffs and all is forgiven. Good dollar-figure, curious term. Nice to have him back – he and we will always have The Goal.

 

[Deebs]

Lehks has a talent for generating golden opportunities that miss the net. Frustrating as hell during the season, but then he morphs into the Hulk during the playoffs and all is forgiven. Good dollar-figure, curious term. Nice to have him back – he and we will always have The Goal.

Can anyone post a clip of "The Goal"....classic moment in Habs history

 

[Lshap]

On a team that has little speed to start with and which has now lost Danault permanently and Byron temporarily, Lehkonen’s superior skating ability is more important to the team than ever.

Agree completely. Habs' system pivoted on a few key players disrupting the opposition. Lehkonen is excellent in that role, but going into next season we've lost ground in that department. Losing Weber and Danault makes us more vulnerable to fast, talented forwards. We'll need someone like Evans to fill in those defensive holes.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Agree completely. Habs' system pivoted on a few key players disrupting the opposition. Lehkonen is excellent in that role, but going into next season we've lost ground in that department. Losing Weber and Danault makes us more vulnerable to fast, talented forwards. We'll need someone like Evans to fill in those defensive holes.

Agreed. But put simply, we need to be faster: both on offence and defence. The team's roster is replete with mediocre/average skaters; Toffoli, Armia, KK, Savard, Edmunson, Gallagher, etc. Unless we can raise the median level of the team's speed, we will remain pretenders and not contenders. That it is why it is crucial that we retain the Lehkonens and draft skating plus prospects. Its disturbing that in the recent draft so many of the choices had questions about their skating. This is pure folly. And why its crucial that Evans and Poehling, both superior skaters, pan out, and Drouin, one of our most talented skaters, makes a full recovery. The makings of a slow, boring and losing team may be upon us.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Still believe lehkonen has breakout potential. I just love his game, but I am willing to finally concede that that is probably not the case. I prefer his game over Armia’s for sure.

He's got a motor, good hockey sense defensively along with awareness.

He's a high end defensive player and I'll always give him credit for that, but his f***ing offense is f***ed.