Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki is playing his best hockey of the year and is now into the Allsvenskan finals

Just a few weeks ago, Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki was nursing a foot injury and it looked like his tumultuous 2022-23 season was over.

We were surprised to see Lekkerimäki return to Djurgården’s lineup on March 22nd when he jumped onto the top line and scored his first goal of the playoffs.

Since then, Lekkerimäki has played in eight Allsvenskan playoff games and has three goals along with four assists. He’s consistently been given first-line opportunities and even had one game where he played a career-high 23:45. Lekkerimäki is playing the most he has ever played and these past eight playoff games have been the best we have seen him all year.

When it comes to his possession numbers, he’s been extremely impressive as well as putting up nearly a point per game over his eight playoff games. Lekkerimäki has a 62.9% control of Corsi and a 64.9% control of expected goals. To simplify, his line is dominating through the playoffs.

Lekkerimäki and his Djurgården squad have won their series’ and are now off to the Allsvenskan finals to face the powerhouse Modo team. The two clubs will battle for a promotion into the SHL and this series means a ton to the players who are in the lineup. We may not have relegation and promotion here him North America but this adds so much pressure to a finals series. There is a massive financial boost to an organization if they are able to earn a promotion to the SHL and after being demoted to the Allsvenskan last season, Djurgården is hoping to get right back to Sweden’s top league.

The Allsvenskan finals begin on Sunday and Lekkerimäki is expected to be back on the first line and continuing to see plenty of power play opportunities.

After a long year, this is a nice positive few weeks for the 18-year-old kid. Getting back to the SHL would help Lekkerimäki’s development and make it more comfortable for him as the SHL is just a better league to play in compared to the Allsvenskan.

We will continue to keep you posted with Lekkerimäki updates as the playoffs continue on and we will be sure to check in with the kid after his playoffs conclude.