Canucks: Here's how Jonathan Lekkerimaki can make the NHL

Article content

When the Vancouver Canucks’ 2024 training camp started, head coach Rick Tocchet didn’t know much about Jonathan Lekkerimaki.

Article content

He obviously was aware of the buzz around the Canucks’ 2022 first round pick, had read all the development staff’s reports — he just hadn’t seen the player that much. He was curious about how close Lekkerimaki was with his details.

But it’s clear that now that he has, he sees what the buzz was about.

Through the first two games of pre-season, Lekkerimaki has done a lot of little things away from the puck very well, Tocchet said this week.

“I think a lot of people are looking for the shot, they’re looking for the passing play, his instincts. And he has it. But there was a play down low (Tuesday). It was a breakout play. He was the low forward, and he was in a great position: he made a great play in the pocket,” Tocchet said. “I look at that stuff because those are the plays that win and lose your games.”

Article content

Article content

Tocchet said he looked at assistant coach Adam Foote after the play and they nodded.

Smart plays like that have Lekkerimaki on the edge of the NHL.

Article content

This is a player who the Canucks really believe will be a big time player in the NHL. The question is, how soon?

Could he really start the season on the NHL roster?

From a roster-building stand point, he’s up against it. For starters, he doesn’t need waivers to be sent to the minors. There are depth forwards the Canucks really like, such as Nils Aman and Phil Di Giuseppe, who need waivers.

In the long run, Lekkerimaki’s talent will push him past players like those two, but if there’s no obvious hole for him to fill higher up the lineup, why push your roster’s walls out before you have to?

Article content

What’s almost certainly more important for Lekkerimaki is for him to find confidence in North American pro hockey.

The rink is smaller, the defenders are a little bigger, even in the AHL. He needs to master getting inside on defenders.

He also hasn’t scored a goal yet in North America. For a scorer, you want to see him thriving above all else.

He got five games in last spring in the AHL and now has two NHL exhibition games under his belt.

As Tocchet said, the player has showed well in his overall game.

But to push his way on to the Canucks’ NHL roster, he’s got to put the puck in the net. He’s played with Elias Pettersson to start; you’d think that would set him up for ultimate success.

Roster-building

As it stands, there is an apparent roster spot to fill. Dakota Joshua is undergoing treatment for testicular cancer and although there’s no word when he might be back, it’s obvious he won’t be in the lineup to start the season.

Article content

And if you have him on injured reserve to start the season, plus Thatcher Demko as well, there’s enough roster space to have Lekkerimaki on the NHL roster and you won’t have to waive either Aman or Di Giuseppe.

The cap thing

But there’s also a cap issue: Joshua and Demko both carry non-negligible cap hits and to build a roster with healthy scratches around the two of them — neither is expected to be ready for the start of the season — is a challenge.

There isn’t enough cap space to start the year with three healthy scratches if both Demko and Joshua are even on regular injured reserve.

The Canucks may have to use the cap relief provisions of long-term injured reserve if they don’t want to send either Di Giuseppe or Aman to waivers at the start of the season. If you put a player on LTIR, they have to stay there for 10 games and 24 days.

Article content

The minimum term required to go on LTIR means neither Demko nor Joshua seem likely options — even if we don’t know when they’ll be back — but Tucker Poolman is. Poolman isn’t going to play this season but he’s still got one year left of his contract.

The Canucks have said they don’t want to use LTIR this year, they’d rather bank money under the cap for use later in the season, but if you’re looking to avoid waiving anyone, even before considering Lekkerimaki having a role on the team, you’ll have to start the year with Poolman on LTIR.

Doing so would open up about $1.8 million in cap flexibility, so you could call up Lekkerimaki, whose cap hit is far lower.

The math will only start to change again once Joshua is ready to return — a roster spot will have to be opened up to put him in the lineup. And once Demko is healthy as well, and the Canucks only have two goalies in the NHL, then you can bring Poolman back off LTIR and start accruing space again.

Article content

pjohnston@postmedia.com

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.

Article content