The Canucks have signed one of their top prospects, announcing that they’ve inked winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the deal has a cap hit of $950K and an AAV of $1.425MM per season after factoring in $475K in ’A’ bonuses in each year. GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement about the signing:
Jonathan had a good run in the playoffs and gained a lot of valuable experience but unfortunately his team fell short of its ultimate goal. Each player’s development path is different and in Jonathan’s case, he had to deal with a lot of adversity this past year. But with each challenge he faced, he found a way to learn and grow. With the help of our staff, we will find the best path forward for him and we look forward to Jonathan joining our development camp in July.
The 18-year-old was the 15th overall pick at the draft last summer after a strong showing in Sweden’s junior league while also more than holding his own with seven goals in 26 games with Djurgardens of the SHL. However, his club team was relegated down a division to the Allsvenskan in 2022-23 but it didn’t result in a big jump in output for Lekkerimaki. Instead, he wound up with just three goals and six assists in 29 regular season games while picking up four points in seven contests for Sweden at the World Juniors.
However, Lekkerimaki was able to finish up strong, picking up a point per game in the playoffs in 15 contests but Djurgardens fell in the finals, preventing them from returning to the top level next season. Accordingly, the winger had recently been linked to Leksands for next season in a report from Aftonbladet in Sweden. This contract doesn’t preclude Lekkerimaki from playing overseas next season with Leksands or elsewhere; to that end, Lekkerimaki told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link) that he is in discussions with SHL teams for next season. If Lekkerimaki doesn’t play in ten games with the Canucks next season (an outcome that seems likely at this point), his contract will slide a year and still have three seasons remaining on it at this point next year.