Vancouver Canucks top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki was the hero on Monday night, grabbing a third-period tying goal and the shootout winner en route to a 4-3 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils.

While much of the focus will be on the steep hill the Canucks have to climb to claw their way back into the second and final Wild Card position, the growth of Lekkerimäki is going to be a key story to watch down the stretch.

With the current state of the team, the roster is in dire need of somebody to take the reins offensively. Elias Pettersson, Nils Höglander, and Filip Chytil are all out without timelines for their respective injuries. This leaves Brock Boeser, Conor Garland and Jake DeBrusk as the only forwards on the roster with north of 40 points.

And quite honestly, it’s hard to expect a rookie with just 19 games of NHL experience under his belt to carry the team offensively. He’s got all the tools to be that offensive weapon, but he just needs time to find his footing in this league.

But playing 9:52 minutes like he did last game isn’t going to get that done. He needs more ice time to get in the groove of the game for him to fully flourish. Even Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game that he needs to get him some more ice time:

“I’ve got to try and get him some chemistry with some guys. Got to try and find some more minutes for him. Two beautiful shots for us. The shootout was great, but that other one was a goal scorers goal. That was an impressive one to me.”

Lekkerimäki didn’t take over the game, recording just two shots on goal. But how could he have in such limited ice time?

That’s not to say he still didn’t show that elite-level offensive play you’re looking for.

Let’s analyze his offensive zone work on his goal:

Everybody always talks about Lekkerimäki for his shot. And rightfully so. That is his bread and butter. But his speed is underrated.

Lekkerimäki picks up speed through the neutral zone to speed past the Devils player and win the race to the puck. He continues that momentum when picking up the puck and speeds around the net. Then, Lekkerimäki gives Ondrej Palat a little shiny move by stopping up and faking like he’s headed back toward the net, but moves back to open space and leaves the puck for Derek Forbort to collect along the wing.

Covering for the pinching Forbort, watch Lekkerimäki at the top of the screen.

He has Jesper Bratt tightly covering him and leaks down toward the net. However, Lekkerimäki is gliding down low, and then once he sees Bratt shoulder check the wrong way, he turns to open slot area, picks up a quick stride and is in prime position to show off his quick release to beat Jacob Markstrom and tie up the game.

Here’s a closer angle of Lekkerimäki’s shot:

The puck is off his stick as quickly as it was on it, and he uses the two bodies in front to pick his spot on the far side that Markstrom can only hope to get a piece of. This very deceptive shot had a short window of time to pull off, and Lekkerimäki capitalizes.

As Tocchet said, a true goal scorer’s goal.

Fast forward to overtime, where you can see his high Hockey IQ come to life:

DeBrusk takes the puck behind the net and finds Lekkerimäki on the far wing. As he wheels at the blueline, there is no lane for Lekkerimäki to attack. He then sends it back to DeBrusk, which forces Timo Meier to shift onto DeBrusk. With Dennis Cholowski too far to switch, Lekkerimäki then attacks the middle of the ice and collects the give-and-go with only open ice and Markstrom left in front of him.

The offensive instincts to create open space out of nothing goes to the massive Hockey IQ Lekkerimäki carries.

And we’ll just leave this filthy shootout goal to ice the game and solidify the much-needed two points. No pressure, kid.

Obviously, the team is in the business of winning games with the playoffs still within reach. However, regardless of playoffs, seeing how far Lekkerimäki can come to close out this season is not only important for his development, but it’s crucial for next season.

The Canucks head into next season with approximately $13 million of cap space. Here are the projected lines with players signed for next season (Brock Boeser (UFA), Pius Suter (UFA) and Aatu Räty (RFA) are the expiring forwards on the roster):

The Canucks are going to need to use their $13 million to add some impactful forwards to be a competitive team. And realistically, they need an impactful winger and a second-line centre. Can you get that out of just $13 million? Especially with the salary cap increase?

That might be tough.

Second line centre is the biggest need. And if Lekkerimäki can show well in the remaining 11 games, maybe he can be the impactful winger from within to help this team as early as next season. He’s certainly shown the offensive flashes as he did against the Devils; he just needs more opportunity to turn those flashes into consistency.

These next few games will be Lekkerimäki’s trial run to see what kind of player he can be for next season. Amid the playoff race, his impact will be a key story to watch down the stretch. But will Tocchet follow through on his comments of giving Lekkerimäki more ice time and the runway to flourish with each point in the standings mattering that much more?

We’ll have to wait and see.