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Artturi Lehkonen

Injury Notes: Avalanche, Rielly, Klingberg, Stone

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If the playoffs began today, the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche, would be on the outside looking in. Colorado’s fall isn’t for a lack of talent and granted, losing Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky to free agency wasn’t exactly helpful, but instead the primary issues seem to fall squarely on injuries. The team has lost more than it’s fair share of man games to injury as they approach the one-third mark of the season and just when things couldn’t seem to get worse, Nathan MacKinnon was ruled out for four weeks.

There could be some help coming soon though, reports Brennan Vogt of Colorado Hockey Now, who spoke with Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar during his media availability earlier today. According to Bednar, forwards Darren Helm and Valeri Nichushkin could be available to play in tomorrow’s game. Nichushkin, one of the team’s premier players, was off to a blistering start with 12 points in seven games before an injury sidelined him for 17 games. Helm, a veteran utility player, has yet to suit up for Colorado this year, but given the injuries the team has dealt with, getting his versatile presence back in the lineup could pay bigger dividends than it might seem. Also of note, Bednar disclosed that forward Artturi Lehkonen, who was injured in Colorado’s game on Saturday, is currently going through concussion protocol.

  • During today’s Leafs Lunch radio program on TSN Radio, Sports Illustrated’s David Alter called in to discuss a number of Toronto Maple Leafs notes, including the status of injured defenseman Morgan Rielly. Alter acknowledged an earlier report by TSN’s Darren Dreger, who believed Rielly’s timeline to be somewhere around four-to-six weeks, but added that when he caught up with Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas recently, Toronto’s timeline was only to the extent of the LTIR minimum duration: 24 days and 10 games. Alter adds that Rielly, who has been working out with the team, has not yet resumed skating and thus the earliest return date from LTIR, which would be on December 17th, seems very unlikely. Rielly has been dealing with an MCL injury suffered in a collision with New York Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri, who was also injured on the play, back on November 21st.
  • The Athletic’s Eric Stephens writes that Anaheim Ducks defenseman John Klingberg will return to the lineup tomorrow after missing the previous seven games with a lower-body injury. Much like his Ducks, Klingberg has struggled to start this year. The offensive-minded defenseman has recorded just eight points in 20 games thus far to go with a -12 rating, which itself isn’t too out-of-line compared to his recent seasons. Klingberg had signed a one-year, $7MM deal with Anaheim this offseason with the idea that he could be dealt to a contender at the trade deadline perhaps, and test the free agent market again next summer, two things which are still on the table most likely.
  • Vegas Golden Knights winger Mark Stone was notably absent from practice today, however as Jesse Granger of The Athletic reports, this was simply a maintenance day. These sorts of absences are normal throughout the NHL, especially for veterans and players who are recently back from injury or dealing with a nagging issue, but given the extent of Stone’s recent injuries and his unrelenting style of play, it makes sense that an absence even like this one would sound an alarm for some. Since returning full-time for Vegas, Stone is back to his old ways, chipping in 21 points in 28 games to go with stellar defense.

Evening Notes: Zetterlund, Boqvist, Lehkonen, 2024 All Star Game

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The New Jersey Devils remarkable season is becoming more and more real each day. At first a nice story, then a “prove it,” then “what next,” the 19-4-1 Devils now sit among the NHL’s most elite teams this season with little evidence they’re slowing down. The team had another busy offseason, however the bulk of the talent on the roster isn’t much different than the same group that put up just 63 points last season. One of the several changes that has seemingly turned the tide in New Jersey is the development of some of their less-heralded prospects, including forwards Fabian Zetterlund and Jesper Boqvist.

As the Devils’ own Amanda Stein profiles, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff recently pulled both players aside and informed them that they should “get a place.” In other words, the two had been living in the team hotel in New Jersey without a permanent home, neither considered a firm part of the roster. However, a player being told to find a more permanent living situation implies that their spot on the roster is fairly safe. New Jersey had certainly hoped that both players could be a part of the long-term plan for them, however neither had really secured that status just yet. Now, 24 games into the season entering tonight, the Devils have found a winning recipe, and while it includes big names like Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, it’s also quite clearly been impacted as well by players like Boqvist and Zetterlund.

  • The Colorado Avalanche have had to weather more than their fair share of injuries this year and much to their credit, the reigning Cup champions have been able to keep themselves in playoff position despite the injuries. However, the team was dealt another tough blow during tonight’s contest against the Boston Bruins with winger Artturi Lehkonen leaving the game with an undisclosed injury, says Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater. Acquired at last season’s trade deadline, Lehkonen has fit in well during his time in Colorado and is currently enjoying a phenomenal breakout season, tallying seven goals to go with 11 assists in 21 games coming into tonight.
  • With the postponement of the 2024 World Cup of Hockey, the NHL will need to find a host for their All Star Game and of course, won’t have an issue finding interested parties. On this evening’s 32 Thoughts portion of Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that there is expected to be a good amount of interest in hosting from Canadian teams, with Toronto being one that is expected to make a bid. Friedman added that there are some who have wondered if the NHL would consider a rotation of 7-to-10 cities where players may want to travel to during the winter months (presumably the warm climates of the American south and the west coast), but as Friedman adds, that’s not of interest to the league. The last All Star Game to be held north of the border was Ottawa back in 2012, with Montreal in 2009 before it.

Colorado Avalanche Extend Artturi Lehkonen

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The Colorado Avalanche have extended restricted free agent Artturi Lehkonen, signing the winger to a five-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $4.5MM. Since he was just one year away from unrestricted free agency, the lucrative extension buys out four UFA years and keeps Lehkonen in Colorado through the 2026-27 season.

New Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland released the following statement:

Artturi was a great fit to our team last season and obviously played an essential role in our championship run. He is incredibly versatile, can play anywhere up and down the lineup. He has a non-stop motor and never takes a shift off. He’s really smart, highly competitive, knows his role no matter what is asked of him. Getting length and term for a player of his quality was a top offseason priority and we’re thrilled to have him for the next five years.

When MacFarland says Lehkonen played an essential role in the Stanley Cup run, he isn’t kidding. The 27-year-old scored eight goals in 20 games, four of them game-winners, including the Cup-deciding tally in game six of the Final. The Finnish winger is probably not going to reach elite offensive totals over the next five years but he’ll be one of the most important pieces if the Avalanche are to challenge for another championship. His penalty-killing ability, physicality, and hockey sense allow the team to put him in basically any situation without worrying about the defensive end of the ice, freeing up the team’s more offensive players to drive the play.

With Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin, Josh Manson, Darren Helm, and Andrew Cogliano all brought back, the Avalanche will once again have a very impressive group to push for the Central Division crown and potentially another Stanley Cup.

West Notes: Blackhawks, Lehkonen, Labanc, Highmore

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The Blackhawks welcomed one center back tonight but found themselves without another.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Tyler Johnson has been cleared from concussion protocol and activated off IR while Kirby Dach was a late scratch with a non-COVID illness.  It has been a tough first season in Chicago for Johnson after coming over from Tampa Bay as injuries have limited him to just 14 games where he has just a goal and two assists while averaging a career low in ice time at just 12:41 per night.  As for Dach, he has also had a quiet year offensively, notching 23 points in 63 games despite being a fixture in their top six.

Elsewhere around the Western Conference:

  • The wait is over when it comes to Artturi Lehkonen making his Colorado debut as the team announced (Twitter link) that the winger’s immigration has been approved, paving the way for him to suit up against Calgary on Tuesday. The 26-year-old was brought in at the trade deadline in exchange for prospect defenseman Justin Barron and a 2024 second-round pick and he’s expected to play a key role on the third line for the Avalanche down the stretch.  Lehkonen has 16 goals and 13 assists in 58 games this season.
  • The Sharks could get winger Kevin Labanc back at some point next week, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The 26-year-old has been out since undergoing shoulder surgery back in mid-November.  It had been a disappointing season for Labanc prior to the injury as he had just three goals and three assists in 21 games and with San Jose ten points out of a playoff spot heading into Monday’s games, his return will be more about trying to rediscover his offensive form over helping a late playoff push.
  • Matthew Highmore’s upper-body injury will keep him out of Vancouver’s lineup on a week-to-week basis, relays Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has 10 points in 39 games this season.  The Canucks recalled William Lockwood on an emergency basis last week to take Highmore’s spot but if they wanted to bring another player up for extra depth, they’d have to use one of their four post-deadline regular recalls.

Update On Artturi Lehkonen

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March 27: In advance of the Avalanche’s match tonight against the Minnesota Wild, The Athletic’s Peter Baugh issued an update on the immigration situation of newly-acquired Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen, who has yet to play a game for the team. Lehkonen is reportedly “still in a holding pattern” with regard to his immigration paperwork, and it is unclear if that will be resolved by the time the Avalanche take the ice against the Wild.

March 25: The Colorado Avalanche paid a significant price to acquire forward Artturi Lehkonen from the Montreal Canadiens on Monday’s trade deadline. They sent the Canadiens a 2024 second-round pick and defenseman Justin Barron, the team’s 2020 first-round pick. Avalanche GM Joe Sakic made the deal likely with the idea that Lehkonen would be able to help the team prepare for the playoffs and find chemistry on his new team as the Avalanche play to secure their playoff spot. But despite those hopes, it is unclear when Lehkonen, who is healthy, will be making his debut with the Avalanche. In his media availability today, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar stated that the process of securing Lehkonen a visa so he can play for the Avalanche is still ongoing, and until it’s completed, he can only practice with the team, and not play in their games. Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now added that “as of this moment,” Lehkonen’s immigration paperwork was still incomplete.

While this development does not figure to do any real damage to the Avalanche’s ability to make the playoffs (they have a 100% chance of making the playoffs, per MoneyPuck.com) it does mean that the process of getting Lehkonen settled in the Avalanche lineup could be stalled until further notice. Part of the reason Lehkonen was such an attractive trade asset for the Avalanche was his versatility. He routinely played in many different situations and on many different lines in Montreal, and it’s with that versatility that Lehkonen could make a major impact on the makeup of the Avalanche lineup. But with the holding pattern the team finds itself in concerning Lehkonen’s immigration paperwork, finding the best fit for their prized acquisition before the playoffs begin could be more challenging.

But, as has been already mentioned, the Avalanche are under no serious threat to miss the playoffs. They currently sit first in the Central with a 45-14-5 record and have a fifteen-point lead over the second-place Minnesota Wild. But like many of the other contending teams, the Avalanche’s success this regular season was the basic expectation for their club. The players and the organization as a whole will be judged based on their playoff success, and that’s where this Lehkonen setback may be slightly more concerning. Lehkonen was highly effective in Montreal’s run to the Stanley Cup Final last season, as a crucial third wheel on the team’s Phillip Danault-centered shutdown line. Lehkonen had extensive experience playing with Danault and Brendan Gallagher before that, and by the time he was called into action to replace Tomas Tatar early in the Canadiens’ first-round series versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was able to hit the ground running. Getting that sort of player was seemingly Sakic’s goal in trading for the Finnish winger, but these immigration issues could prove to be a bit of a setback to fully integrating Lehkonen into Sakic’s juggernaut Avalanche squad.

Colorado Avalanche Acquire Artturi Lehkonen

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The Colorado Avalanche have acquired forward Artturi Lehkonen from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick and defense prospect Justin Barron, as originally reported by Kevin Weekes on ESPN’s Trade Deadline coverage and confirmed by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Lehkonen is a gigantic addition to Colorado’s bottom six, especially as they deal with depth issues down the stretch caused by the injury to captain Gabriel Landeskog. In 58 games with Montreal this season, he’s scoring at a career-best pace, netting 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points.

A veteran of almost 400 NHL games, the 26-year-old was the best defensive winger remaining on the trade market. He’s seeing a defensive zone start rate of higher than 50% for the first time since his rookie season, a sign of trust in his strong game. He adds to Colorado’s arsenal of defensively responsible wingers headlined by Valeri Nichushkin.

Lehkonen, who has a cap hit of $2.3MM, is a restricted free agent at the end of this season. Colorado acquired him at 50% salary retention and is only on the hook for $1.15MM.

For Montreal, though, this is a very respectable piece of work by new general manager Kent Hughes. Barron is a stellar prospect, drafted 25th overall in 2020. In his first full professional season, he played in his first two NHL games with Colorado this year and has 20 points in 43 games with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. He’s a candidate to get some NHL looks post-Deadline in Montreal.

Strong Interest In Artturi Lehkonen

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The Canadiens have already moved out two key players in winger Tyler Toffoli (traded to Calgary last month) and defenseman Ben Chiarot (moved to Florida on Wednesday).  Now, it appears they’ll have another big decision to make when it comes to winger Artturi Lehkonen as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that there is strong interest in the 26-year-old.  However, Montreal is apparently weighing that against the prospect of signing the pending RFA to a long-term extension.

Lehkonen has spent his entire six-year career with the Canadiens who drafted him in the second round (55th overall) back in 2013.  He scored 18 goals in his rookie season but has failed to reach that mark since then although he has 13 in 57 games this season.  However, he has become a very valuable defensive winger that plays on both wings and can play up and down the lineup while logging heavy minutes on the penalty kill.  He played that role in Montreal’s playoff run last season while also scoring the series winner against Vegas to send them to the Stanley Cup Final.

At $2.3MM, his price tag is low enough that most teams could afford him this season, particularly if Montreal uses one of their two remaining retention slots to pay down up to 50% of that.  Considering the returns that teams have paid for middle-six wingers with some team control in recent years (Tampa Bay’s acquisitions of Barclay Goodrow, Blake Coleman, and Brandon Hagel among them), it’s expected that the Canadiens will place a similar price tag to part with Lehkonen; Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Montreal’s ask involves a first-round pick or equivalent prospect and potentially a second asset.

Of course, this is a different situation.  While Lehkonen is still controllable for one more year, he’s not signed for next season and will be eyeing a raise this summer, one that will likely push him past the $3MM mark.  Goodrow, Coleman, and Hagel all had at least one year left on their existing contracts at a below-market rate which helped drive their value up significantly.

In his press conference earlier this week, GM Kent Hughes indicated he wasn’t interested in having a fire sale for his team.  However, with there being strong interest in Lehkonen, it appears he’ll need to seriously consider parting with another important player with an opportunity to add another future asset or two to their stockpile.

Trade Rumors: Lindholm, Manson, Lehkonen

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With just a week now until the 2022 Trade Deadline, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun took the liberty of compiling a recap of the current standing of many big names who are in conversation to get moved within the next eight days. As injuries have complicated the trade potentials of players like Jakob Chychrun and John Klingberg, LeBrun notes that Anaheim Ducks blueliner Hampus Lindholm is now generating the most interest among pending UFA defensemen. The 28-year-old has stayed healthy this year and is once again playing in a top-pairing situation in Orange County. While some advanced metrics suggest his two-way play has taken a dip this season, he remains a great penalty killer and has experience playing against quality competition. LeBrun notes that general manager Pat Verbeek is likely to take “one last run” at an extension with Lindholm before focusing on a trade, though. If available, he’s likely one of the few rental defensemen on the market that can comfortably step into a top-four role on a contending team and provide his new club with an upgrade in that department. LeBrun singles out the Florida Panthers specifically as a team that’s “kept tabs” on Lindholm.

Some more notes on some deadline assets:

  • Josh Manson is another Duck on an expiring deal who could find a new home next week, likely with some added value as he’s a right-shot D. LeBrun says the Carolina Hurricanes are one of the teams that have checked in on Manson, but with their limited salary cap space at this point, getting a deal done may be tough. Any Manson/CAR trade would likely require a third team to broker the deal, adding to the acquisition cost for Carolina. At this moment in time, that acquisition cost is too high for the ’Canes, according to LeBrun.
  • As the Washington Capitals continue to putter, now likely locked in as the second Wild Card in the Eastern Conference, they’re looking to add to their forward group that’s seen significant injuries this year. LeBrun says Montreal’s Artturi Lehkonen is a name that makes sense, but with Montreal not in a rush to trade the pending RFA, it’ll likely mean Washington (or any other team) needs to yield a first-round pick to acquire him. Between that and a potential first-round pick that could head the other way in a Ben Chiarot trade, Montreal could be called up to the podium many times at their hometown 2022 NHL Draft.

Rangers Have Shown Interest In Artturi Lehkonen

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The Rangers have been looking to add to their bottom six group for several weeks now following the season-ending injury to Sammy Blais.  It appears that one of the players that they’re interested in is Canadiens winger Artturi Lehkonen as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that GM Chris Drury has reached out to Canadiens Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton to discuss Lehkonen’s availability with those discussions being termed as preliminary.

The 26-year-old hasn’t been able to repeat the 18-goal performance he had in his rookie season but has become a reliable defensive forward for Montreal over his six-year NHL career.  Like many Canadiens this season, he has struggled offensively, notching just four goals and eight assists in 33 games but also leads all Montreal forwards in penalty killing time.

He would likely have a similar role if he was to be acquired by the Rangers, one that would see him primarily in their bottom six while playing a significant role on their penalty kill, giving them another above-average forward on that front along with newcomer Barclay Goodrow.

While Lehkonen is on an expiring contract, he still has one year left of arbitration eligibility with a qualifying offer of $2.3MM, matching his current cap hit and salary.  To that end, this isn’t a situation where it’s a guarantee that he’ll be moved by the March 21st trade deadline.  Accordingly, the asking price may be higher than it would be for someone in a similar role that’s set to hit the open market in July.

With ample salary cap space (nearly $10MM per CapFriendly), the Rangers have the opportunity to try to add multiple players over the next couple of months but with pricey extensions already in place for Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad for next season, their cap flexibility will be short-lived.  As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Drury also on the lookout for some pending unrestricted free agents in the weeks to come.

Canadiens Add Lehkonen To Protocol, Place Armia, Perreault On Injured Reserve

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The Montreal Canadiens made a slew of roster moves today, adding Artturi Lehkonen to the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol and placing Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault on injured reserve, per a team tweet.

Armia is out with an undisclosed injury after being a game-time decision on Thursday. He’s been in and out of the lineup this month with an undisclosed ailment and has just five points in 29 games this year. He signed a four-year extension worth $3.4MM with the team this past offseason.

Perreault was classified as day-to-day with a lower-body injury on Thursday. He has three goals (a hat-trick) and an assist in 14 games this year, battling an eye injury early in the season.

Both Armia and Perreault are ineligible to play until after the holiday break.

Lehkonen is the only Canadien officially on COVID protocol. Through all 31 games this year, he had four goals and seven assists.

Montreal will likely have to make some recalls, as these transactions leave them with just 10 active forwards on the roster.

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