Örebro HK names Jonathan Lekkerimäki season MVP ahead of third straight loss

On Thursday night, Jonathan Lekkerimäki added another award to his already stacked trophy case.

Ahead of Örebro HK’s 6-0 loss to Skelleftea AIK, the 19-year-old winger was named club MVP for the 2023-24 season.

The award is very well-deserved as Lekkerimäki leads the team in goals (19) and points (29) despite being the youngest skater on the roster and having played the second-fewest games among Örebro’s top-five producers.

The MVP award comes days after winning the SHL’s ‘Goal of the Week’ honours for his incredible lacrosse goal. That highlight-reel goal ended as Lekkerimäki’s seventh game-winning goal of the season.

Days before that, Lekkerimäki took home the SHL’s ‘Player of the Month’ award for February after contributing nine goals and 10 points across nine games.

It’s been a storybook-worthy bounce-back season for the Swedish sharpshooter. Between the SHL and the World Juniors tournament, Lekkerimäki compiled quite a list of accomplishments:

In addition to the awards, he is fourth in goals league-wide (19) and second in game-winning goals (7) while leading all U23 skaters in total points (29) and second by points per game.

He’s just one goal shy of entering the SHL’s all-time top-1o U20 goalscoring totals list, which includes former Canucks Daniel Sedin (21), Markus Naslund (22), and Elias Pettersson (24). Impressive company!

This comes after a brutal draft-plus-one year, in which he posted just three goals and nine points across 29 games in Sweden’s tier-two league, following well-documented battles with mononucleosis and multiple injuries—a monumental comeback to regain his status as the organization’s top prospect.

Lekkerimäki was rumoured to be a target of the Pittsburgh Penguins in a potential deal for Jake Guentzel, but with the club dealing with Carolina for Michael Bunting instead, expect Lekkerimäki to join the Abbotsford Canucks when his SHL season concludes.

Örebro has two games remaining in the regular season before a likely spot in the SHL’s eighth-finals. The club sits in the last playoff spot with a two-point advantage over MoDo Hockey. In a league that gives three points for a win, two points for winning overtime or the shootout, one point for losing in overtime or the shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation, there is a slight possibility that Lekkerimäki’s SHL campaign ends as soon as March 12th.

Örebro has lost three straight by a score of 11 to 3 but take on IK Osharshamn and Linkoping HC for their final two games. Oskarshamn has lost three of their last five games in regulation and two of their last five in overtime. Linkoping HC, meanwhile, has won two of their last five, dropping two in regulation and another in overtime.

If you’re rooting to see Lekkerimäki in Abbotsford sooner rather than later, root for Oskarshamn and Linkoping.

If you want to see Lekkerimäki join Elias Pettersson in earning the Stefan Liv Memorial Trophy (SHL Playoffs MVP) after carrying his club to an SHL championship, root for Örebro over these next two games.