While Canadiens prospect Jesse Ylonen left his Finnish team late in the season to get a head start on playing in North America, his time playing at home isn’t over yet. GM Marc Bergevin confirmed to Mathias Brunet of La Presse that Montreal has loaned the winger to Pelicans Lahti of the SM-liiga.
The 20-year-old was a second-round pick (35th) overall back in 2018 and has spent the last two years with Pelicans. His offensive numbers dipped a little bit in his sophomore campaign but he still managed to finish fourth in team scoring with 12 goals and 10 assists in 53 games. He left the team in late February to report to Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval for their stretch run but he was hurt upon arrival and the pandemic arrived soon after so he never got the chance to suit up.
Instead, he’ll play back at home for a few months while awaiting the beginning of NHL training camp which is when he will return to Montreal. Bergevin confirmed that their other three prospects on loan – defenseman Otto Leskinen, center Lukas Vejdemo, and winger Hayden Verbeek – will also all be recalled from their loans whenever camp gets underway.