WATCH: Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki scores another beauty goal in the SHL

By Dave Hall
1 month agoHe’s done it again, folks.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki, the Vancouver Canucks’ European sharpshooting prospect, has scored another goal in the SHL.
While patrolling the half-wall, as he usually does on the man-advantage, the 19-year-old found the little room given in the short-side top-corner, to notch his sixth goal of the season and fourth on the power play.
With the tally, he now sits second among all SHL skaters in both power play and total goals.
This highlights what’s been a strong bounce-back season for the youngster, who has seen his share of documented injury and consistency issues in his post-draft career.
After registering his first and second assists of the season in back-to-back games last week, he now finds himself on a three-game point streak and sports a total of eight points in 11 games on the year.
He’s now just one point shy of the nine Allsvenskan points he produced in 29 regular season games last year.
Scoring goals is great, but let’s address the elephant in the room, as I know you are thinking it – what’s he doing when he’s not filling the net? How’s his play off of the puck?
As highlighted in past Blackfish installments, it’s important to stress his overall improvements as a whole.
While his size continues to be a glaring issue, one that hinders his ability to drive the net and force him out of the perimeter, his effort levels and pressure in the defensive end have seen a massive boost.
He appears to be doing his best to get into lanes and pressure puck carriers, and while it’s not always effective, due to his lack of size, he is making efforts to instill off-puck habits and do his part in the defensive end.
It’s a work in progress, but it’s there.
Be sure to keep locked into your weekly Blackfish prospect installments, as they will highlight deeper dives into his overall performance week-by-week.
For now, it’s just nice to see him healthy and building confidence as a young, developing prospect.
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