Player Discussion Artturi Lehkonen

[montreal]

career high in points this year, going to need to do a lot of work this summer on getting stronger, filling out his frame. Can't have such a long slump like that again but also think something needs to happen as he's better at RW and we have too many RW's.

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[26Mats]

Lehkonen ahead of Romanov?? I hope this list is about present level and not future potential.

But if that's the case, should Romanov be ahead of Juulsen?

Seems like a contradiction.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Lehkonen ahead of Romanov?? I hope this list is about present level and not future potential.

But if that's the case, should Romanov be ahead of Juulsen?

Seems like a contradiction.

One, this list is Top-25 Under-25. That includes players on the Habs' roster, which obviously pushes prospects back a few spots.

Two, the way they put this list together is that all of the EOTP staff, as well as readers rank all of the players eligible for this list. They then make an average ranking. It doesn't meant EOTP specifically ranks Lehkonen over Romanov. It's an average of many people's rankings. Surely there are people who rank Romanov over Lehkonen. But when you average them out, Lehkonen comes ahead.

Three, as exciting as Romanov is as a prospect, I personally rank Lehkonen ahead of him as an Under-25, as well. Simply put, he is a full-time NHL'er. He contributes to the big club.

 

[26Mats]

One, this list is Top-25 Under-25. That includes players on the Habs' roster, which obviously pushes prospects back a few spots.

Two, the way they put this list together is that all of the EOTP staff, as well as readers rank all of the players eligible for this list. They then make an average ranking. It doesn't meant EOTP specifically ranks Lehkonen over Romanov. It's an average of many people's rankings. Surely there are people who rank Romanov over Lehkonen. But when you average them out, Lehkonen comes ahead.

Three, as exciting as Romanov is as a prospect, I personally rank Lehkonen ahead of him as an Under-25, as well. Simply put, he is a full-time NHL'er. He contributes to the big club.

By this logic, shouldn't Lehkonen be ahead of Caufield?

I don't understand a logic that has Lehkonen ahead of Romanov, but behind Caufield?

 

[Adam Michaels]

By this logic, shouldn't Lehkonen be ahead of Caufield?

I don't understand a logic that has Lehkonen ahead of Romanov, but behind Caufield?

It's a fair question.

But it's the average of countless people's rankings. Including who knows how many readers. So obviously, they rank Lehkonen on average ahead of Romanov.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Interesting fact I read on an article by Godin. For those hoping for a 20 goal season from Lehks, only the following players have been able to pull off a 20 goal season (for the first time) in their 4th season: Scatchard, Athanasiou, Tyler Kennedy and Erat. If you had brief stints in the NHL prior, you can D'Agostini, Tatar, Vatrano, Pearson, Prospal and Laich to the mix. So odds are not in the favor of the optimistic fans.

If you evaluate each cases:
Tyler Kennedy was from an opportunity (playing on PIT's top 6 & PP).
D'Agostini was a result of an increase in ice time and new opportunity in STL (almost 15 minutes compared to the 10 minutes he had previously averaged).
Erat, Tatar, Athanasiou, Pearson, Laich (who I wouldn't really count since he did it in his third season) were from natural progression and increase of responsibilities. Prospal similarly after being dealt to Ottawa from Philadelphia.
Scatchard as a result of new opportunity with NYI and increased minutes.
Vatrano is a comparable case to D'Ago but with FLA.

Of those, Lehkonen averaged more ice time last year than Vatrano, D'Agostini, Kennedy, Laich and Erat did in those seasons. (Probably due to his PK minutes). Also, of those 10 names, he (176 shots) took more shots than Laich, Erat, D'Agostini and as many as Scatchard. So in order for him to improve his numbers he really needs to shoot more. If he shoots at 10%, just under what he had in his rookie season (11.4%), and increases his shots on goal to 200, he would hit 20 goals.

If you reduce that criteria to only 24 year olds, you can the following names to the list: Mikael Granlund, Justin Williams, Elias Lindholm, Kyle Palmieri, Olli Jokinen, Josh Anderson, Kyle Turris, Ales Hemsky, Marcus Johansson, Tom Wilson, Radek Bonk, Jiri Tlusty, Eric Fehr et Aleksey Morozov.

 

[montreal]

He scored 18 he should be able to score 20, since a bounce or two in his rookie year and he would be at 20. That said you have to wonder about his confidence after struggling so badly to score and missing a few easy ones. He's an interesting player in that he's still young, works hard at both ends of the ice, has some offensive skill but the question is how much as he's shown flashes and he's had a major slump as well. I wonder how good or not he'll be in a few years when hopefully the competition gets much tougher on the roster and we are a much better team.

 

[Rapala]

career high in points this year, going to need to do a lot of work this summer on getting stronger, filling out his frame. Can't have such a long slump like that again but also think something needs to happen as he's better at RW and we have too many RW's.

Was he hangin' with KK?

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Canadiens' Lehkonen hopeful time spent investing in shot will pay dividends - Sportsnet.ca
Lehkonen was asked what his goal for this season was.
"To be more consistent," he said. "I had a lot of stretches throughout my three years here in the NHL that I haven’t been able to produce, so I want to produce more consistently."
It’s why Lehkonen, who hails from Piikkio, Fin., focused more on his shooting than on any other aspect of his game

 

[1909]

Lehkonen would be more effective on RW than LW. He prefers to play on RW too.

 

[Vachon23]

He gonna have a real change to establish him in a top 6 role, I’m curious to see how he gonna do. I still think he have some offensive upside

 

[Rapala]

Canadiens' Lehkonen hopeful time spent investing in shot will pay dividends - Sportsnet.ca
Lehkonen was asked what his goal for this season was.
"To be more consistent," he said. "I had a lot of stretches throughout my three years here in the NHL that I haven’t been able to produce, so I want to produce more consistently."
It’s why Lehkonen, who hails from Piikkio, Fin., focused more on his shooting than on any other aspect of his game

I was hoping he put some work in on balance and leg strength that alone would up his goal totals.
How many opportunities did he miss because he was always falling? Cripes he even lost the team a goal when he was called for diving (one of the very worst calls last year) BTW.

 

[Scintillating10]

Canadiens' Lehkonen hopeful time spent investing in shot will pay dividends - Sportsnet.ca
Lehkonen was asked what his goal for this season was.
"To be more consistent," he said. "I had a lot of stretches throughout my three years here in the NHL that I haven’t been able to produce, so I want to produce more consistently."
It’s why Lehkonen, who hails from Piikkio, Fin., focused more on his shooting than on any other aspect of his game

Like to see either him or Drouin improve this season. Both have the skill

 

[frapp10]

After his rookie season of 18 goals I thought he had the potential to score 25+. Hope he can show us his scoring ability again

 

[Montreal Impact FC]

I mean yeah we never know but he needs to start producing now cause he is about to get officialy labeled as a defensive player around the league.. its too bad cause we really tought is lethal shot would translate to the NHL. we tought is size would be an issue but its his shot and instintcs that have been the problem.

 

[azcanuck]

hard working . great atttitude. I'd like to see him slow the game down a little. He plays like his pants are on fire. He doesnt have the best hockey sense and that hurts him.
But overall he's a good top 9 forward. Third liner for sure.

 

[Vachon23]

Since he’s been with us, Lehkonen is always good at the end of the season. He need to find a way to be better during the complete season

 

[angusyoung]

I mean yeah we never know but he needs to start producing now cause he is about to get officialy labeled as a defensive player around the league.. its too bad cause we really tought is lethal shot would translate to the NHL. we tought is size would be an issue but its his shot and instintcs that have been the problem.

This season will be a determining one for him,and he's not alone. Worse case scenario is a 3rd,4th liner that is reliable on D.

 

[Kraken Jokes]

Not to rag on Lehkonen, I still think he has some potential, but I don't get why he keeps being given top-6 opportunities over others when he hasn't shown the ability to produce with any consistency.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Not to rag on Lehkonen, I still think he has some potential, but I don't get why he keeps being given top-6 opportunities over others when he hasn't shown the ability to produce with any consistency.

He's not there for his offensive production. It's really frustrating to have an offensively limited guy like Lehkonen in the top 6 (and I definitely agree he shouldn't be in that role) but he's exceptionally good without the puck and Julien loves him for that. It allows guys like Domi to cheat a bit.

 

[Kraken Jokes]

He's not there for his offensive production. It's really frustrating to have an offensively limited guy like Lehkonen in the top 6 (and I definitely agree he shouldn't be in that role) but he's exceptionally good without the puck and Julien loves him for that. It allows guys like Domi to cheat a bit.

I feel like Byron is every bit as good without the puck and better with it, yet it looks like he's starting on the 4th line.

 

[Captain Mountain]

He's not there for his offensive production. It's really frustrating to have an offensively limited guy like Lehkonen in the top 6 (and I definitely agree he shouldn't be in that role) but he's exceptionally good without the puck and Julien loves him for that. It allows guys like Domi to cheat a bit.

Lehkonen is more offensively inconsistent than offensively limited. He's more in the Drouin category.

 

[Saundies]

With the amount of chances this guy gets and how sneakily good his shot is, he should be a lock for 20-25 easy.

It's between the ears he's gotta figure it out. It's like he forgets he can score until he puts one in after 20 games and then he gets some in bunches.

Starting out in the top 6 this year. We'll see how it works out.

 

[Habs Icing]

Interesting fact I read on an article by Godin. For those hoping for a 20 goal season from Lehks, only the following players have been able to pull off a 20 goal season (for the first time) in their 4th season: Scatchard, Athanasiou, Tyler Kennedy and Erat. If you had brief stints in the NHL prior, you can D'Agostini, Tatar, Vatrano, Pearson, Prospal and Laich to the mix. So odds are not in the favor of the optimistic fans.

Am I missing something? Domi hit a 20 goal season for the first time in his 4th year.