Artturi Lehkonen Returning To Avalanche Lineup
Avalanche left-winger Artturi Lehkonen will make his return to the lineup from an upper-body injury on Thursday against the Jets, head coach Jared Bednar told reporters after morning skate (via Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press).
Lehkonen, who’s remained a top-line fixture with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas this season, will instead return in a more limited role as Colorado looks to spread out their scoring depth while easing him back into the lineup. He’ll be skating on a new-look third line with trade deadline acquisition Nazem Kadri down the middle and Logan O’Connor, who made his season debut after hip surgery and various unrelated complications had him sidelined long-term, on the right wing, per Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now.
The 30-year-old left a March 2 game against the Kings with his upper-body injury and was subsequently ruled out indefinitely. There weren’t many updates in the interim, but they’ll be happy to get him back in the rotation tonight after going 7-3-1 in 11 games without him, especially after receiving news that they’ll be without Nicolas Roy for several games as well.
Injuries have been a constant for Lehkonen ever since joining the Avs at the 2022 trade deadline. He’s yet to play more than 70 games in a season, but could finally hit that mark this year if he plays in 11 of Colorado’s 12 remaining games.
Had he been healthy over the past four years, he would be money in the bank for at least 55 points a year. Instead, he’s only technically hit the 50-point mark once in his career, back in 2022-23. He’s nonetheless been quite consistent when healthy and is averaging 0.71 points per game this season with a 19-23–42 scoring line in 59 games, the third-highest rate of his 10-year career.
Rookie Zakhar Bardakov will be the one exiting the lineup to make way for Lehkonen’s insertion. The versatile 25-year-old Russian has played in all but one game since the Olympic break and has been a fine fourth-line piece, scoring 10 points with a +5 rating in 56 games despite averaging just 7:09 of ice time per game.
Avalanche Reassign Jason Polin, Artturi Lehkonen Week-To-Week
March 4, 2:41 p.m.: Polin was returned to the AHL today, the team announced. He did not have a point or a shot in 8:09 of ice time last night.
March 3, 7:40 p.m.: Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen will be week-to-week with his injury, reported by Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette. The 30-year-old had not yet missed a game this season, on a career high pace with 42 points in 59 games.
March 3, 1:00 p.m.: The Avalanche announced today that they’ve recalled forward Jason Polin from AHL Colorado. He fills one of two open spots on the Avs’ active roster after today’s news that Lehkonenwill miss at least a few games after taking a puck to the face last night.
Colorado also has Joel Kiviranta unavailable as he’s in concussion protocol, so the Avs needed to make a recall today in order to have 18 skaters on hand for tonight’s contest against the Ducks. Polin will draw into the lineup for the third time this season after appearing on back-to-back nights during his last call-up in November.
The 26-year-old winger isn’t much more than a fringe recall option to plug-and-play on the fourth line in case of injury, just like he’s doing now. Colorado signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan a few years back. He’s been an AHL fixture since then, but has totaled 11 NHL appearances over the last three seasons, scoring once with a +2 rating while averaging just 6:45 of ice time per game.
In the minors, the 6’0″, 198-lb Polin is having his best-ever showing. He’s set a new career high with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 39 games. The former NCAA West Second Team All-American is now up to 24 goals and 50 points in 127 career minor-league outings.
Avalanche’s Artturi Lehkonen Leaves Game Injured, Will Miss Time
The Colorado Avalanche went down a winger early into Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. Winger Artturi Lehkonen left the game in the first period after a puck caught him up high. He had only played three shifts and just under four minutes of ice time. After the game, head coach Jared Bednar shared that Lehkonen will “miss some time” with an upper-body injury per Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette.
Lehkonen has filled an important role in his fourth full season in Colorado. He has averaged just under 19 minutes of ice time each game, and reached a career-high scoring pace in the role. Lehkonen has 19 goals and 42 points in 59 games, putting him on pace for 26 goals and 58 points across a full 82-game season. Both of those marks would be new career-highs, surpassing the 21 goals and 51 points he scored in 64 games of the 2022-23 campaign.
Lehkonen has found that extra scoring gear while serving as the left-winger next to Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas on Colorado’s top, even-strength line. The trio have played nearly 475 minutes together this season, over 340 minutes more than any other Avalanche line. Together they have outscored opponents by a staggering 38-to-16.
With Lehkonen set for the shelf, Colorado will face the tough question of how to rework their most consistent line. Captain Gabriel Landeskog will likely move to a top-line role but which extra forward will step into the lineup isn’t clear. Colorado is not currently carrying a healthy, extra forward – so they’ll need to make a recall to find some added help. Left-winger Taylor Makar has received the most NHL action of any of Colorado’s minor-leaguers, with 12 NHL games and no scoring this season. He could be the favorite for a short-term, NHL role. Colorado could also look for a bit more scoring spark from a player like Alex Barre-Boulet, who leads the AHL’s Colorado Eagles with 54 points in 52 games and scored a point in his only NHL game this season.
Avalanche Activate Artturi Lehkonen From Injured Reserve
12:00 PM: Colorado has assigned Prishchepov, Ivan Ivan, and Nikolai Kovalenko to the AHL for salary cap reasons, per Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports. Angley adds that more roster moves are expected before Colorado hosts Seattle on Tuesday, likely suggesting that some of these transactions are paper moves.
10:30 AM: The Avalanche announced today that they’ve activated winger Artturi Lehkonen from injured reserve. There’s no open spot for him on the active roster, so they’ve assumedly assigned a player to the minors in a corresponding transaction. That’s likely 2024 seventh-round pick Nikita Prishchepov, who made his NHL debut in yesterday’s loss to the Predators.
Lehkonen will likely make his season debut on Tuesday against the Kraken. The 29-year-old had missed Colorado’s first 12 games after undergoing a shoulder procedure early in the offseason. He wasn’t ready for training camp, but there was mild optimism that he could play by the beginning of the regular season. That was quashed when Lehkonen landed on IR when the Avalanche submitted their opening night roster, with head coach Jared Bednar quickly saying Lehkonen would be out through at least Oct. 28 – the date of his next evaluation by team doctors.
Evidently, the evaluation went well, and Lehkonen was cleared to play. He’s been skating in a non-contact jersey for much of the past month, so he won’t be coming into the lineup completely cold. With most of Colorado’s top-nine forward group ravaged by injuries, he’ll be relied upon heavily from the get-go. Lehkonen, Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin were unavailable since the start of the season, and he’s the first to return from that group. Since the season opener, Ross Colton and Jonathan Drouin have joined them on IR, while Miles Wood has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and won’t be back until late this week at the soonest.
Lehkonen has become a fixture in Colorado’s top six since the Avs acquired him from the Canadiens before the 2022 trade deadline. He had 14 points in 20 playoff games en route to the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. While he’s missed 55 games over the following two seasons due to injuries, he’s churned out legitimate top-six offensive production while retaining the excellent defensive and physical game that made him a standout depth piece in Montreal. A neck injury cost him nearly half of last season, but he still managed 16 goals and 34 points in 45 games, a 62-point pace, while averaging 18:28 per game. The Avs controlled 56.9% of shot attempts with Lehkonen on the ice at even strength compared to 52.4% without him.
Whether Lehkonen lines up alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen on the Avalanche’s first line or is deployed in second-line minutes to give Casey Mittelstadt some help remains to be seen, but he’ll indeed be deployed in that same top-six role against Seattle next week. His return couldn’t have come soon enough – the Avalanche have lost three in a row and have fallen to 5-7-0 on the season, placing sixth in the Central Division.
Lehkonen was on IR, not LTIR, so his activation has no negative cap impacts. They’ll actually gain cap space with the move by opening up a roster spot for him.
Central Notes: Hall, Lehkonen, Drouin, Perunovich
It’s not common for a 10-plus-year NHL veteran to have a strong desire to play for a rebuilding club, especially without having played in a Stanley Cup Final. According to an interview with Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Taylor Hall has different ideas about his future.
If Hall has his way he would be with the Blackhawks’ organization through their rebuild and into their next competitive window. Seravalli quoted Hall as saying, “I’d love to stay and be part of this. I’ve moved around quite a bit, maybe more than I would’ve liked or planned at the start of my career. But it’s brought me and led me to some amazing people, and I’ve had a lot of great life experiences, and that’s made me grow up a lot. In saying that, I like it here, I like the organization. Most of all, I really like this team and the group of guys we have. I think I can be a good piece for us as we keep growing“.
It makes sense for Hall to finally settle down with an organization for the twilight years of his career. The former first-overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft has played for six organizations throughout his 15-year NHL career five of which coming in the past six seasons. He’s only in his age-33 season meaning he could theoretically be a part of Chicago’s reemergence into contention depending on the pace of their rebuild with phenom Connor Bedard.
Other Central notes:
- Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette shared a few injury updates regarding Colorado Avalanche forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Jonathan Drouin. Lehkonen, who has not played since Colorado’s series-clinching loss to the Dallas Stars in Round Two of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, is continuing to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. He is meeting with doctors once the team returns to Denver later this week and is hopeful he will be cleared. Drouin is working his way back from an upper-body injury and will be re-examined once the team returns from their three-game road trip.
- According to Lou Korac of The Hockey News, St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich is expected to make his season debut tomorrow night. Perunovich is buried on the Blues’ depth chart to start the season thanks to offseason additions Ryan Suter and Pierre-Olivier Joseph. He managed 17 assists last year in St. Louis in 52 games played but there were considerable concerns with his play on the defensive side of the puck. Perunovich may find himself on the waiver wire in the coming days when Nick Leddy is activated so his inclusion in tomorrow’s lineup could be interpreted as an informal tryout.
Central Notes: Kaiser, Johnston, Bourque, Lehkonen
Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson told the media today that young defenseman Wyatt Kaiser will be ready to return to the lineup either late in the team’s season-opening road trip or shortly after (as per Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times). Chicago starts the season with four games on the road, which puts Kaiser’s timeline to return from his illness sometime around mid-October.
The Blackhawks placed Kaiser on the IR this past Friday and made it retroactive to September 19th, but given the timeline, it appears that he may only be out of action for another week or possibly two.
In other Central Division notes:
- Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston has been called probable for opening night by Stars head coach Peter DeBoer (as per Dallas Stars reporter Brien Rea). Johnston practiced with the team today, albeit in a limited capacity, as he tries to recover from an undisclosed injury. The 21-year-old was the Stars’ leading scorer last year, posting 32 goals and 33 assists in 82 games. The Toronto, Ontario native was also fantastic in the playoffs tallying 10 goals and six assists in 19 playoff games.
- Stars reporter Brien Rea also reported that Dallas rookie Mavrik Bourque has been called doubtful for the team’s season opener. The reigning AHL MVP posted 26 goals and 51 assists in 71 games last season with the Texas Stars and is expected to take a permanent role in the NHL this season. With Bourque out, it likely means that Oskar Bäck will make his NHL debut in his place.
- Colorado Avalanche beat writer Evan Rawal writes that forward Artturi Lehkonen won’t be back with the team for a little bit longer. Lehkonen has a five-month check-in at the end of October and that meeting will determine how the team and player can advance from there. Lehkonen underwent shoulder surgery in May and was placed on the injured non-roster list today meaning that he likely won’t return until November at the earliest.
Injury Notes: Pesce, Sorokin, Lehkonen, Seeler
The New Jersey Devils could soon receive a silver lining in their long list of injury news, with general manager Tom Fitzgerald designating defender Brett Pesce as day-to-day with a strong chance of playing in the team’s home opener, per NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. Pesce suffered a fractured fibula in May, forcing him to miss the final nine games of Carolina’s postseason. Recovery didn’t dissuade teams from talking with Pesce when he hit the open market, with New Jersey ultimately signing the 29-year-old to a six-year, $33MM contract.
Pesce could get a chance to earn that money soon. The Devils have been careful not to rush him back to action – instead opting to take top prospect Seamus Casey in their trip to Prague – though Pesce will have a clear spot in the team’s top-four whenever he returns. He’s averaged at least 20 minutes of ice time in each of the last eight seasons, including playing upwards of 23 minutes a night in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Pesce’s held onto that role despite never being much of a scorer, with a career-high of 30 points set two seasons ago. New Jersey could be the fiery offense to boost Pesce’s scoring, though it’s his stalwart defense that’ll prove invaluable on a team that allowed the fifth-most goals in the league last season.
More injury updates:
- Star New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin was spotted on the practice ice today, shares Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. It’s Sorokin’s first appearance on the training camp ice, after undergoing back surgery this off-season. The details of Sorokin’s surgery and timeline have been kept quiet by New York, though head coach Patrick Roy recently shared that he expects the star to be ready for opening day. Sorokin is among the best in the league when he’s healthy, posting a combined .919 save percentage across 192 games in the last four seasons – and previously recording 134 wins, a .930, and one championship across eight seasons and 244 games in the KHL.
- Colorado Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen returned to the ice in a no-contact jersey, shares the Denver Post’s Corey Masisak. In speaking with head coach Jared Bednar, Masisak adds that the team wants to keep Lehkonen away from contact as long as possible, though he’ll ramp up quickly when he’s fully cleared. Lehkonen has scored 38 goals and 85 points in 109 games with the Avalanche over the last two seasons, though upper-body injuries routinely pull him out of the lineup.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have shared that defender Nick Seeler is fully healthy despite sitting out most of Tuesday night’s third period, per Charlie O’Connor of All Phly Sports. Seeler is fighting to retain his role on Philadelphia’s third-pairing, where he’s served admirably in each of the last two seasons. He’ll face competition from Yegor Zamula, who outscored Seeler by eight points last season.
West Notes: Sharks Leadership, Lehkonen, Buchnevich
The San Jose Sharks have labeled their leadership for the 2024-25 NHL season with captain Logan Couture set to miss a significant amount of time. The team announced earlier today that Mario Ferraro would be an alternate captain for all games, Tyler Toffoli and Barclay Goodrow would be alternate captains for home games, and Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin would serve as alternate captains for away games.
New head coach Ryan Warsofsky made it a point to re-commit to Couture as the team’s captain for the upcoming season although he may not play for some time. The 2024-25 NHL season will mark Couture’s 16th season with the Sharks organization and his fifth as the team’s captain.
Ferraro will be the only returning alternate captain from last year’s leadership group with Toffoli and Goodrow coming to San Jose this offseason. Granlund served as the team’s offensive leader last season with 12 goals and 60 points in 69 games.
Other happenings out West:
- Following reports that Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen would not be present for the team’s preseason or training camp, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post reports a return may not be far off. Masisak shares that Lehkonen could be a participant in the team’s opening night game on October 9th if he’s medically cleared for contact from his shoulder injury. Lehkonen and the Avalanche will certainly be looking for a cleaner bill of health from the Finnish winger as Lehkonen looks to expand upon last season in which he scored 16 goals and 34 points in only 45 contests.
- Lou Korac of the NHL reports St. Louis Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich did not practice today due to a foot injury from blocking a shot in the team’s contest yesterday evening. Buchnevich was able to finish the game last night against the Dallas Stars and the injury is not considered serious. Buchnevich went pointless in the team’s first preseason matchup but did tally one shot on goal and a 35.3% success rate in the faceoff dot.
Avalanche Notes: Rantanen, Landeskog, Lehkonen, Annunen
When asked about a potential contract extension, star Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen has shared that he plans to stay in Denver for the foreseeable future and that the business side of things will sort itself out, per Aarif Deen of Mile High Sports.
Rantanen is coming off yet another career year, posting 42 goals and 104 points – just one point shy of the career high he sent last season, though he played in two fewer games this year. He’s emerged as the clear 1B to Nathan MacKinnon‘s 1A – giving Colorado one of the most formidable top lines in the league. Rantanen has climbed to 617 points in 570 career games – with 301 of those points coming in the last three seasons alone. He seems focused on repeating the dominant scoring this season, confident that a new deal with Avalanche will come to fruition when necessary.
Other notes out of the Mile High City:
- Head coach Jared Bednar spoke with the media ahead of Colorado’s start to training camp and among the updates, shared that there’s no news on team captain Gabriel Landeskog per Deen. Bednar mentioned that Landeskog has made big strides but that the situation remains up in the air. He hasn’t played since June of 2022, supporting Colorado’s run to the 2022 Stanley Cup after a trio of injury-shortened seasons. He’s an incredibly effective scorer when he plays, scoring 30 goals and 59 points in 51 games in his most recent season. That’s the production that fans have come to expect from their captain, leading Landeskog to 571 points across 738 career games. There’s hope that he can return to the top flight soon, though it seems he’ll need to overcome more hurdles before he’s back in the NHL.
- Winger Artturi Lehkonen isn’t expected to attend training camp as he continues recovering from a shoulder injury that required surgery in May, shares Meghan Angley of The DNVR.com. Lehkonen only appeared in 45 games last season, but still managed an admirable 16 goals and 34 points. He’s flashed strong scoring over the last three seasons, totaling 123 points in 183 games split between Montreal and Colorado. He’ll sit out of the team’s training camp, hoping to return to a solid lineup role once he’s healthy.
- Bednar also shared high remarks for top goalie prospect Justus Annunen, sharing that he could eat into starter Alexandar Georgiev‘s workload, shares Angley. Georgiev has played in 125 games over the last two seasons, recording a modest 78 wins and .908 save percentage. Annunen split time between the NHL and AHL last season, posting an impressive .928 save percentage in the outings. He emerged as a top-end AHL starter in 2022-23, with 22 wins and a .916 save percentage in 41 appearances. It’s not clear how the Avalanche will platoon their netminders this year, but Annunen’s recent success could be too much for Colorado to ignore.
West Notes: Lehkonen, Fowler, Nurse
Whether Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen will be in the opening night lineup remains to be seen, reports John Matisz of The Score.
After a comment earlier in the week from Nathan MacKinnon suggesting Lehkonen wouldn’t be “starting the season” in the Avs’ lineup flew under the radar, Matisz reached out to the team for confirmation, receiving a response that there’s still no firm timeline for his return. During exit meetings in May, Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said that Lehkonen needed offseason shoulder surgery but that his absence wasn’t expected to stretch into the regular season.
That assumption was challenged by head coach Jared Bednar last month, who confirmed Lehkonen wouldn’t be ready to start camp and cast doubt about whether he’d be cleared for Colorado’s season opener.
The 29-year-old Finn has broken out as a bonafide top-six winger in Denver since being acquired from the Canadiens near the 2022 trade deadline. Injuries have limited him since his arrival, though – especially last season. A neck injury kept him to 45 appearances on the year, but he still managed to pot 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points while averaging over 18 minutes per night.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler acknowledges most of what Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said was true when he reported last week that both parties were looking to find him a new home on the trade market. “I understand that I’m on the second half of my career and these guys are just getting going,” the veteran blue liner told Eric Stephens of The Athletic, referencing Anaheim’s rebuild. “Those are the people that are going to push this team to where they want to be.” Stephens listed the Red Wings, Maple Leafs, Jets, and Stars as some speculative trade destinations.
- The injury putting Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse‘s availability for the beginning of training camp in jeopardy was sustained in the Stanley Cup Final, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reports. The lingering effects are directly related to the hit he took in Game 2 from Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues. The blue liner sat out much of the rest of the game after taking the hit in the first period but didn’t miss any action in Games 3 through 7.