Player Discussion Artturi Lehkonen
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montreal
Go Habs Go
Leks is about to turn 25 next week, I know some don't like him but he was on pace for 16 goals this year, and 32 pts which would have been a career high though just by 1 pt after getting 31 last year. He's a hard working, solid 2 way player, though he's got to start finding the back of the net more. Getting 18 in his rookie year, I think he can have a few 20+ goal seasons in him or so I hope.
He's 25. He isn't ever going to be more than a 30 pt player. Easily replaceable.
Gabriel Sagala
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- Sep 8, 2019
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Did you know Lehkonen, which was drafted in the 2013 class, as a left wing, is ranked 6th in point total (our of 23) of that draft for left wingers. First one is Drouin by the way
And he is 25th all positions merged. Domi is 7th, Drouin is 9th, Andrighetto is 31st, DLR is 44th, McCarron is 69th and Dauphin is 76th.
ahmedou
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Deebs
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Excellent 3rd/4th liner. Cheap, very good defensively, kills penalties and works his sack off every shift all while chipping in offensively.
Adam Michaels
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Yup. He's the kind of player that helps a team go forward. He's not the key piece you would look to be the difference maker. But he is exactly what you want within your line-up.
Not bad for a 55th overall.
And in the 2017 playoff series against the Rangers, he was one of the best players. I remember that he, Gallagher, and Radulov were the only three that were consistently making things happen.
26Mats
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- Jun 23, 2018
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Elite 4th liner who can step in on any line when needed.
Hope he can find a scoring touch, but at this point we've been waiting quite a while.
Habs Halifax
Loyal Habs Fan
He's been bounced around in the line-up with no stable spot. Great speed and forcheck. Gets into scoring areas a lot (like Mete) but can't finish it seems. Has had a hard time matching his 18 goals from his rookie season.
He's got more to give and I don't blame the coaches for being harder on him in the 2nd half. He has to want it more and not settle
Regardless, a decent bottom 6 asset and can play both wings. Might be with us in 5 years, might not.
He's got more to give and I don't blame the coaches for being harder on him in the 2nd half. He has to want it more and not settle
Regardless, a decent bottom 6 asset and can play both wings. Might be with us in 5 years, might not.
Habs Halifax
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Skip Bayless
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He tends to over-routinize his game and become an offensive black hole, like Plekanec. But other than that, very dependable fwd defensively.
26Mats
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I would only trade him if it's an upgrade offensively. No point in a lateral move. He's as good as it gets for a 30 point winger. Does it all and still has that potential that maybe one day he'll figure out a way to be more consistently ptoductive.
no, he must show MORE. 10-15 goals, good defense, but he scares nobody, and scores little to average. Habs need more from players to win big.
habs have speed but they scare nobody. not big,not mean, no super scorers , no top nhl power play danger, just average,
habs need to get MORE talent and more weight with speed, ib the playoffs you need 4 elements, weight,speed defense and a dangerous set of top 4-6 scorers.
habs have speed but they scare nobody. not big,not mean, no super scorers , no top nhl power play danger, just average,
habs need to get MORE talent and more weight with speed, ib the playoffs you need 4 elements, weight,speed defense and a dangerous set of top 4-6 scorers.
montreal
Go Habs Go
what kind of production do you expect from a 3rd liner?
The Great Weal
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What would Lehkonens point totals be without Domi and/or Suzuki? I'm hoping we trade him for another bottom 6 forward that has size.
montreal
Go Habs Go
He had his best season with Kotka and Armia, although it's the only season he played in all 82 games though I believe he only missed 1 game this year, in his first 2 seasons he missed 25 games total which is about 25% of the 164 games.
That said I don't know how much he played with Domi and Suzuki since I barely watched any games this year and didn't pay a lot of attention to the Habs.
But he's been very consistent in his ppg every year,
16-17 - 28 pts 73 games (.38 ppg)
17-18 - 21 pts 66 games (.32 ppg)
18-19 - 31 pts 82 games (.38 ppg)
19-20 - 27 pts 70 games (.39 ppg)
he's been an undersized player that lacked strength and there was always talk about how it would impact him in the NHL. By his age 24 season we see a player that works hard, is smart, has some skill, very solid defensively but clearly frustrates fans with his goal scoring inconsistencies. He's got almost 300 NHL games under his belt with a career .37 ppg which is an average of 30 pts per 82, certainly not great by any means but solid for sure.
Habs Halifax
Loyal Habs Fan
Agreed but he is also part of our flawed forward group where our top players are small or soft and we surround them with other smurfs. Lehkonen is one of the hardest working and he does have his scoring chances but can't finish.
Lehkonen would fit well on a team where their top players are big and physical. Not so sure he is part of our long term plans to be honest. I do think he has solid game and probably has a good prime from 25-30 but with the Habs? We will see.
He might get drafted by Seattle. Lots can change but it might be one of Mete or Lehkonen
ahmedou
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#Lehkonen-PressConference(20/07/23)
“It's the best time to play hockey. Playoffs is always fun. We gotta focus on Pittsburgh. I feel pretty good. It's been a good camp. Getting ready for the first game, and take it day by day. I get prepared pretty well. When I went back home I got two weeks of quarantine and I stayed at home. After that, I was able to go to the gym and at the end I started to go on ice as well. Let’s see what the lines are going to be, I can’t think too just ahead. I just have to focus on the next day and trying to prepare myself the best as I can.”
“Well the first thing is that we've to say outside the box against that team, that's for sure. They (Penguins) got a lot of great players in both of their PP units. It’s one of the hardest to face in the league, they’ve such good players in that squad that makes it hard to read, they can do pretty much whatever they want on their PP. Just kinda sure that we're ready for whatever they gotta bring. ”
“It's the best time to play hockey. Playoffs is always fun. We gotta focus on Pittsburgh. I feel pretty good. It's been a good camp. Getting ready for the first game, and take it day by day. I get prepared pretty well. When I went back home I got two weeks of quarantine and I stayed at home. After that, I was able to go to the gym and at the end I started to go on ice as well. Let’s see what the lines are going to be, I can’t think too just ahead. I just have to focus on the next day and trying to prepare myself the best as I can.”
“Well the first thing is that we've to say outside the box against that team, that's for sure. They (Penguins) got a lot of great players in both of their PP units. It’s one of the hardest to face in the league, they’ve such good players in that squad that makes it hard to read, they can do pretty much whatever they want on their PP. Just kinda sure that we're ready for whatever they gotta bring. ”
Periodic reminder that Lehkonen's even strength scoring rates are the exact same (1.57 P/60) as Drouin's as a Hab despite playing with the corpse of Plekanec or rookies on shutdown lines while Drouin gets cupcake minutes with top 6 forwards.
He's not going to break the mythical "40 point" barrier because he's never going to play on the PP or play top 6 minutes. That's fine. He's a very good 3rd line forward and moving him because he doesn't hit some arbitrary amount of raw points that's mostly a function of TOI and PP usage would be really dumb.
I just don't really get the whining about the scoring when he's getting 3rd line TOI. It's easy to be frustrated because he lacks finish and if he had a bit more scoring touch he'd be doing more, but there's lots of players with sick hands who would never be in those situations in the first place because they suck in other ways. He's a great 3rd liner paid like a great 3rd liner that plays great on a 3rd line, dunno why I should be upset he can't score like a 2nd liner.
He's not going to break the mythical "40 point" barrier because he's never going to play on the PP or play top 6 minutes. That's fine. He's a very good 3rd line forward and moving him because he doesn't hit some arbitrary amount of raw points that's mostly a function of TOI and PP usage would be really dumb.
I just don't really get the whining about the scoring when he's getting 3rd line TOI. It's easy to be frustrated because he lacks finish and if he had a bit more scoring touch he'd be doing more, but there's lots of players with sick hands who would never be in those situations in the first place because they suck in other ways. He's a great 3rd liner paid like a great 3rd liner that plays great on a 3rd line, dunno why I should be upset he can't score like a 2nd liner.
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26Mats
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He and Byron are great at what they do. Put them on the 4th line and they're absolutely elite at that position.
I hope Evans and a UFA take their spots in the top 9 next year. Byron and Lehkonen could then be elite 4th liners that could step into the top 9 in the case of injuries.
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