Sources have told CanucksArmy that we should be expecting a loan announcement for 2022 Vancouver Canucks first-round pick Jonathan Lekkerimäki.

The Canucks picked Lekkerimäki 15th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and by now, you likely know the story of his struggles with mono, as well as multiple injuries in his draft-plus-one season.

Lekkerimäki turned it up in the playoffs and put up 15 points through as many games.

Örebro is a great SHL landing spot for Lekkerimäki as he will be reunited with fellow 2022 Canucks draft pick, Elias Pettersson (D-Petey).

The two youngsters got a chance to bond after the draft in Montreal as the Canucks held their development camp right after the draft. Lekkerimäki and Pettersson also played together at the most recent World Junior Championships and are both all but a lock to be on this winter’s roster for Sweden.

Lekkerimäki will be at Canucks development camp but we don’t expect to see him at Vancouver’s training camp in Victoria as Lekkerimäki’s SHL season will already be two weeks into the 2023-24 campaign.

Moving up a league is always tough but it feels like there is going to be a soft landing for Lekkerimäki’s arrival. Örebro is very excited to add a high-end young player, Pettersson can show him the ropes, and you bet that development coach Mikael Samuelsson is going to enjoy not driving around to too many Swedish cities.

We will go more in-depth about the Lekkerimäki situation tomorrow once the announcement is made from the team.