Canucks’ Jonathan Lekkerimaki to have season-ending surgery
In a season that has become about getting experience for young players and resetting for next year, the Vancouver Canucks have lost one of their most promising young forwards.
Winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki will be having shoulder shoulder which will keep him out for the rest of this season.
Lekkerimäki is having season ending shoulder surgery.
Lekkerimaki, 21, played in Vancouver’s final game before the Olympic break. It’s unclear when he suffered the injury that will require the season-ending surgery, but it could be related to an injury from October that put him on injured reserve.
In just 13 games played for the Canucks this season, the Swedish national has two goals and an assist for three points. He has also played 21 games for the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks this season, where he’s tallied 13 goals and seven assists for 20 points.
Initially selected 15th overall by Vancouver in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Lekkerimaki spent the bulk of the next two seasons playing in Sweden, including the 2023-24 campaign in which he played 46 games for Orebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), putting up 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points.
Lekkerimaki made his North American professional debut late in the 2023-24 season, when he had a goal and an assist during a six-game stint with Abbotsford.
Last season, he played 24 games in the NHL for Vancouver, managing three goals and three assists for six points. He played 36 games for Abbotsford, registering 19 goals and nine assists for 28 points. He also contributed three goals and four assists for seven points over 16 postseason games during Abbotsford’s run to the Calder Cup.
The Canucks will restart their season on February 25th at home against the Winnipeg Jets, before taking the short trip south to visit the Seattle Kraken on February 28th.