After five games in the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks have sent forward Jonathan Lekkerimäki back down to AHL Abbotsford. In a corresponding move, the club has recalled centre Max Sasson. General manager Patrik Allvin made the announcement Thursday morning.

The Canucks called Lekkerimäki up after his first season in North America got off to a blistering start. Through seven AHL games this season, the sharpshooting winger has tallied five goals and two assists. After some injury troubles with the big club — namely Brock Boeser — Lekkerimäki received his first NHL call-up.

Upon arrival, the Canucks used him in the top six alongside JT Miller. Lekkerimäki didn’t look out of place per se, but it was evident that he had some things to fine tune before he was quite ready to be an NHL regular. Before his first NHL stint was over, Lekkerimäki did manage to score his first NHL goal, a beauty of a snipe off the rush against the New York Islanders in his second career game:

The Canucks selected Lekkerimäki with the 15th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Lekkerimäki’s first taste of the NHL showed he has room for improvement on things like wall work, but all in all, that’s all this was: a taste of the NHL for a promising young prospect who you can bet will be even better the next time he’s called up.

Coming up to Vancouver is Max Sasson, a centre that the Canucks’ organization is quite high on. Signed after his collegiate career came to an end in 2023, Sasson had something of a breakout year in his first full season in North America last season. Through 56 AHL games, Sasson tallied 18 goals and 24 assists while proving to be a responsible player capable of playing in any situation.

The Canucks are set to fly out to the Nation’s capital today as they get set to kick off a six-game road trip on Saturday night with a matchup against the Ottawa Senators. After that, they head to Boston to face the Bruins before making the trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins in games on back-to-back nights. The Canucks will close out this road trip with final stops in Buffalo, Detroit, and Minnesota.

They’ll be doing so without Lekkerimäki, JT Miller, and potentially Brock Boeser and Derek Forbort as well. Thatcher Demko skated yesterday as he continues his road to recovery from a knee injury. Read more about yesterday’s practice by clicking here!