Jori Lehtera Player Discussion

[Chuck Downie]

Drafted 65th overall in 2008 as a 20 yr old in the 3rd round by the St. Louis Blues.

I was at the draft in Ottawa and remember Jarmo Kekalainen (Columbus current GM) announcing the selection for the Blues. The Flyers had no first round pick going into the draft and the day before traded R.J. Umberger on the draft floor to Columbus for a first round pick (Luca Sbisa) and their third round pick (M.A. Bourdon). I was hoping the Flyers would draft Lehtera with pick 84 (Flyers chose Jacob Deserres) but he went 2 picks before Bourdon at 65. When the Flyers pick came up shortly after Lehtera was drafted, the people beside us were yelling and screaming to the point that I didn't hear who they had selected. It was because the group was Bourdon's family and friends who were there to see him drafted.

Thought I'd share that story as it is was the first thing I thought of last night when Lehtera became a Flyer.

Fast forward to today, I hope Lehtera can find his offensive game again. Loved him in the KHL for Novosibirsk. I really liked Schenn and don't hate the trade mainly because of the 2 first round picks attached to Lehtera. Judging this trade for me is a long term thing for sure but the Blues got the better player now.

Click to read more...

 

[OzFlyers]

He looks to be an expensive 4th line center and penalty killer for us. Lets hope he just needed a change of scenery.

 

[BlueDream]

Blues fan here.

Lehtera's strengths:

- Passing
- decent on faceoffs (not great, usually just hovers around 50%)

Weaknesses:

- Skating
- Shooting
- Pretty much everything else

Lehtera will make some nice passes here and there, and he tries hard. That's about all I can say. He's a horrible skater - slow, and falls down a lot. His shot is really bad, and he has trouble lifting the puck. He will botch many wide open chances.

He's not physical. He's not amazing defensively but he's not terrible either. Like I said, he tries hard. But just doesn't really impact the game at all, and while passing is his biggest strength he's still not a great playmaker. His career high of 44 points came because he was playing with Tarasenko the entire season. If he doesn't play with a player of that caliber, which he won't be anymore, 25-30 points is probably the most he will get. That's why his numbers dropped so much the past 2 years.

He's apparently working on his skating and droping some weight this Summer in Finland so if he can do that and get quicker, it could be an improvement. But his skating is mainly why all of us wanted to get rid of him so bad (and his contract). If he doesn't fix that, his career in the NHL may not last long.

Best of luck this year.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I think it's pretty clear that he was a make-weight so Schenn's contract could fit into their salary structure, and as such he's a non-issue IMO. We don't need the cap savings and he almost certainly can't be worse than PEB, who he replaces (unless we flip him to Captain Kangaroo down yonder). The key to this deal was the picks, of course. We have players who can replicate Fatty's production, in addition to better health for G and Ghost. The only fear I have - and it hasn't taken root, because it is too absurd at this point without any proof - is that Hacksaw will adopt him to replace his abandoned son Chris, and as such play him too much. I'll believe that when I see it, but it is just about the only thing to worry about.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

I think Lehtera will be a great scapegoat with both PEB and Schenn gone.

 

[BillDineen]

Forward AMac.

 

[Robb_K]

He looks to be an expensive 4th line center and penalty killer for us. Lets hope he just needed a change of scenery.

He needs to improve his skating, and his conditioning. He's too slow to be very effective on the small North American ice. He's a slick passer, and the east-west game on the wide European ice fits his style perfectly. But, he was too slow to keep up with his linemates on the rush, and slow to get back on defence, so he hung back a lot. He also tired out in the last half of the last 2 seasons, especially in the last third, or so. That hurt him in the playoffs, as well. He's good positionally on defence, when he's back. He's good on the forecheck, when he can get there and his team still has the puck.

I'd say he's a slightly weak third liner until he improves his skating and stamina.

The Flyers got great value for Schenn getting 2 1st Rounders (part of that was taking on Lehterä's $4.7 million contract (which is quite a bit for a 3rd Liner).

 

[Hapiii]

Cant remember where I heard/read but hes going to hire own skating coach for summer. Its big year for him to prove that he still belongs to the league, hope he turns hes game around.

 

[Alex91]

any talk of him going to KHL if he doesn't get decent minutes??

 

[Hiesenberg]

Blues fan here.

Lehtera's strengths:

- Passing
- decent on faceoffs (not great, usually just hovers around 50%)

Weaknesses:

- Skating
- Shooting
- Pretty much everything else

Lehtera will make some nice passes here and there, and he tries hard. That's about all I can say. He's a horrible skater - slow, and falls down a lot. His shot is really bad, and he has trouble lifting the puck. He will botch many wide open chances.

He's not physical. He's not amazing defensively but he's not terrible either. Like I said, he tries hard. But just doesn't really impact the game at all, and while passing is his biggest strength he's still not a great playmaker. His career high of 44 points came because he was playing with Tarasenko the entire season. If he doesn't play with a player of that caliber, which he won't be anymore, 25-30 points is probably the most he will get. That's why his numbers dropped so much the past 2 years.

He's apparently working on his skating and droping some weight this Summer in Finland so if he can do that and get quicker, it could be an improvement. But his skating is mainly why all of us wanted to get rid of him so bad (and his contract). If he doesn't fix that, his career in the NHL may not last long.

Best of luck this year.

Well enjoy Schenner who's basically the same, Schenn isn't fast and his skating isn't good either. Main reason we were annoyed with him.

 

[Cootsfanclub]

Well enjoy Schenner who's basically the same, Schenn isn't fast and his skating isn't good either. Main reason we were annoyed with him.

No he's not. Schenn had a good shot, was physical, and his skating was nothing special but not a detriment to his game.

The main gripe with people here is that he had a low hockey IQ.

 

[Curufinwe]

any talk of him going to KHL if he doesn't get decent minutes??

He's not going to retie from the NHL and abandon his contract if that's what you mean.

 

[Hiesenberg]

No he's not. Schenn had a good shot, was physical, and his skating was nothing special but not a detriment to his game.

The main gripe with people here is that he had a low hockey IQ.

He wasn't physical. He had games where he was, but mostly just annoyed people by his inconsistency to do so.

His skating isn't good.

 

[Adam Warlock]

any talk of him going to KHL if he doesn't get decent minutes??

We all know he'll be Haks favorite and get plenty of minutes.

 

[Cootsfanclub]

He wasn't physical. He had games where he was, but mostly just annoyed people by his inconsistency to do so.

His skating isn't good.

He led our forwards in hits per game last season. I don't think it's fair to say he's inconsistent at that aspect of his game.

 

[The Madrigal]

I like the player a little bit. He's a huge upgrade to Bellemare as the 4th line center. Unfortunately he has a disgusting cap hit for the next two years to be a 4th line center.

 

[deadhead]

Taking on bad contract is part of the price of making good deals.
Another reason I think Hextall will avoid free agency like the plague, you get more value taking on other people's mistakes.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Can anyone explain to me how he got a 4.7 million dollar contract if he's so awful?

 

[The Madrigal]

Can anyone explain to me how he got a 4.7 million dollar contract if he's so awful?

Because he had 44 points in his first season and showed some decent chemistry with Tarasenko. He got the deal after that season and it's all been downhill since.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Can anyone explain to me how he got a 4.7 million dollar contract if he's so awful?

Same reason Tomas Kopecky and Viktor Stalberg got 3M contracts a few years ago

Star players carry bad players to career years they never come close to repeating away from star players

Tarasenko made Lehtera look a lot better then he actually was

 

[Striiker]

We have enough cap space that his cap hit is irrelevant. It won't stop them from icing the team they want next year, with or without him.

 

[The Madrigal]

Andy Strickland ✔ @andystrickland

Jori Lehtera has hired trainer and been training two out of every three weeks in Helsinki. Also hired skating coach #Flyers #stlblues
8:42 AM - 24 Jun 2017

 

[Flyotes]

I've already got my pitchfork out.

 

[catbellysqueezer]

Blues fan here.

Lehtera's strengths:

- Passing
- decent on faceoffs (not great, usually just hovers around 50%)

Weaknesses:

- Skating
- Shooting
- Pretty much everything else

Lehtera will make some nice passes here and there, and he tries hard. That's about all I can say. He's a horrible skater - slow, and falls down a lot. His shot is really bad, and he has trouble lifting the puck. He will botch many wide open chances.

He's not physical. He's not amazing defensively but he's not terrible either. Like I said, he tries hard. But just doesn't really impact the game at all, and while passing is his biggest strength he's still not a great playmaker. His career high of 44 points came because he was playing with Tarasenko the entire season. If he doesn't play with a player of that caliber, which he won't be anymore, 25-30 points is probably the most he will get. That's why his numbers dropped so much the past 2 years.

He's apparently working on his skating and droping some weight this Summer in Finland so if he can do that and get quicker, it could be an improvement. But his skating is mainly why all of us wanted to get rid of him so bad (and his contract). If he doesn't fix that, his career in the NHL may not last long.

Best of luck this year.

Somebody please get me that gif of the guy opening the office window and jumping out.

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Would be nice if the change of scenery and rededicating himself to improving his skating and fitness could make him into a good player.

I think we all know that the trade was not about him, though, but rather the two first round picks and opening a slot in the top 6 for some of the other young players coming through.