It looks like Jonathan Lekkerimäki is picking up right where he left off last year as the Vancouver Canucks’ 2022 first-round pick scored in his debut with his new SHL club Örebro.

The 19-year-old Swede joined Örebro in the offseason to get himself back into the SHL after his Allsvenskan team Djurgården was not able to advance to Sweden’s top league.

Lekkerimäki came down the left wing and worked his way into the middle of the ice before firing a wrist shot past the Västerås goaltender.

Lekkerimäki was playing on the fourth line in Tuesday’s preseason game for Örebro. He was joined by fellow Canucks prospect Elias Pettersson (D-Petey) in the lineup as Pettersson was playing left-side defence on the third-pairing.

It’s great to see Lekkerimäki find the back of the net early in his time with Örebro. He finished off his 2022-23 season by going off in the Allsvenskan playoffs with 15 points in 15 playoff games. The 19-year-old has a huge year ahead of him with his home city hosting the World Junior Championships in December as well as his return to the SHL.

This is not the first time in the SHL for Lekkerimäki. He played in the SHL during his draft year and scored seven goals and added two assists in 26 games. We hope to see Lekkerimäki climb up the lineup from the fourth line and scoring in his preseason debut will certainly help that become a reality.

The SHL regular season is scheduled to begin on September 13th and the Canucks will have three prospects and technically Lukas Jasek playing in the SHL this season. The Canucks maintain Jasek’s NHL rights until 2025. We mentioned Pettersson and Lekkerimäki but Lucas Forsell will also be playing in the SHL this season and will be looking for a top-six role.