Heading into 2026-27, Jonathan Lekkerimäki had not established himself as a full-time NHLer through two seasons and 37 games with the Vancouver Canucks. But he was treated as one all the same. New GM Ryan Johnson spoke throughout the offseason about Lekkerimäki getting a real chance to run with the Canucks this year, and heading into Training Camp, Lekkerimäki was even told to seek out more permanent accommodations in Vancouver.

Four games into the season, that faith is looking to be well-placed.

Lekkerimäki has had a hot start to the year. Through four games, he’s scored two goals, including a temporary game-tying goal against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, and added an assist. But it’s not just the production that’s impressive; it’s the fact that Lekkerimäki finally looks comfortable at the NHL level. He looks as though he belongs.

The stats back that up, too. Lekkerimäki is posting more than just points. His Corsi rating of 48.48% is the third-highest among Vancouver forwards, trailing just Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Räty. He’s been on the ice for five goals for at five-on-five and only two against, which is the best rate of anyone on the team aside from Luke Schenn (who’s been on for three goals for and none against so far).

Lekkerimäki might be getting a little lucky so far, as his team’s on-ice 27.78% shooting percentage would indicate, but not that lucky. His rate of Expected Goals while on the ice is at 55.42%, which is both well above the even mark and the best on the entire team thus far. The same goes for Lekkerimäki’s on-ice rate of high-danger chances, which sits at 66.67%. That’s second on the team to Jake DeBrusk (who didn’t give up a high-danger chance against in either of his two games).

The Swede’s play so far is a success story any way you slice it, and those underlying metrics suggest it’s a story that isn’t going to wrap up anytime soon. Lekkerimäki isn’t just playing well; he’s playing sustainably well, and that’s exactly what he needed to do in order to make the most of this, his best, perhaps last, chance at establishing a real NHL career.

But there’s some necessary context here that makes what Lekkerimäki is doing all the more impressive. The first has to do with his offseason injury recovery.

Lekkerimäki underwent shoulder surgery in late February to correct a lingering issue, and the timeline was described as “season-ending.” He managed to get back in the gym some seven weeks later, in April, but was still presumably a bit off from 100% at that time. That no doubt prevented Lekkerimäki from training to his fullest extent in the offseason, especially as it pertained to his upper body, where he definitely needed to add strength.

Though he was said to be feeling fully healthy by September, it would have been reasonable to expect Lekkerimäki to experience a slower start. It would have been reasonable to expect him to require some additional patience. In fact, some may have wondered if all the talk about him getting an almost-guaranteed shot at NHL minutes this year was an attempt to get ahead of this.

But in the end, that’s all proven wholly unnecessary so far. Lekkerimäki’s play in the preseason earned him his spot, and his play in the first four games of the season has only ensured he’ll keep it.

To give some further context here, however, we’ve got to note that while Lekkerimäki has been given a spot in the lineup, he hasn’t exactly been given a regular one. In terms of ice time, Lekkerimäki is still receiving just 11:37 a night, which is actually below his career average. And in terms of linemates…

Lekkerimäki has already been a part of 10 different forward line combinations through four games. He’s only spent 13 minutes with his most frequent whole line (Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk). His most frequent linemate overall has been Bains. Lekkerimäki has appeared on basically every forward line, first through fourth, through four games.

And through it all, Lekkerimäki has produced. He’s earned a point with Pettersson as his centre, with Räty as his centre, and with Marco Rossi as his centre. And this, more than anything, should be taken as evidence that Lekkerimäki has really arrived.

There was talk in the summer of putting Lekkerimäki in a place to succeed. But it looks like all the Canucks really needed to do was put him in the NHL, period. No matter where he’s been placed in the lineup, Lekkerimäki has found a way to generate offence. His matchups aren’t being sheltered – he’s essentially skating against league-average competition so far. His zone starts are being slightly sheltered, but that’s to be expected. His linemates aren’t being carefully selected. He’s been as thrown into the blender as anyone, and has come out the other side looking consistently good.

This is, in other words, a very different Lekkerimäki than what we’ve seen before, achieving very different results.

And, sure, it has only been four games. But these have been four games in which Lekkerimäki has shown far more NHL staying power than he had in any previous showing for the Canucks.

In some ways, Lekkerimäki himself could be seen as symbolic of the way the Canucks have battled against expectations in the early going of the 2026-27 season.

Flashback a few weeks, and you could find plenty of opinions stating that Lekkerimäki was likely to start the season in the AHL. But GM Johnson and Co. very clearly held a different opinion, one formed through their limited time with Lekkerimäki down in Abbotsford.

Early on, their faith in Lekkerimäki is being rewarded with the best play of his career to date. And Lekkerimäki is only ensuring that he’ll continue to be rewarded with further opportunities throughout the year, especially if he keeps making the most of them, as he has through four games.