Training camp is still weeks away, but Jonathan Lekkerimäki is already one of the most interesting names on the Vancouver Canucks’ board heading into 2026-27.
That’s because he sits in a strange spot. Lekkerimäki is still viewed as a top-five organizational prospect, and he only turned 22 in July, so the runway is there. But he’s also entering his fifth post-draft season and his fourth year of North American pro hockey, and he still hasn’t fully stamped himself as an NHL-ready option.
That doesn’t mean the clock is slamming shut. It does mean this season matters.
The good news for Lekkerimäki is that the Canucks are in a rebuild, and not the kind where every roster spot is already spoken for. Training Camp 2026 opens Sept. 17 in Penticton, and there should be real competition for jobs. But compared with past years, Vancouver doesn’t have a deep line of forward prospects ready to push him out of the way just yet.
That gives the Canucks a chance to do something different with him. Instead of the old sink-or-swim approach, they can try to place him in the best possible environment and see what he actually becomes before making any long-term call. That could matter even more once younger forwards like Caleb Malhotra, Adam Novotny, and others start arriving to pressure the depth chart.
So where does Lekkerimäki fit best?
The cleanest answer starts with his role: he’s a scoring winger, which means the centre beside him matters a lot. The obvious place to begin is Elias Pettersson, who is still the 1C on the depth chart and the most productive pivot on the roster until someone proves otherwise.
But Pettersson and Lekkerimäki may not be the smoothest match. Both like to fire from the half-wall.
Neither is especially quick. Neither is known for winning battles in traffic.
If those two were paired, the Canucks would need the right kind of winger on the other side, and that’s not exactly easy to find. Linus Karlsson, Drew O’Connor, and Liam Öhgren are all possibilities, but none of them makes the fit automatic.
There’s also the Pettersson angle itself. Fans want him shooting more, and adding a pure finisher to his wing could work against that. On top of that, Pettersson’s own job this season is to rebuild his game, so asking him to carry Lekkerimäki’s development too may be too much to pile on.
A more natural fit might be Marco Rossi.
Rossi is a scorer, but he’s usually viewed more as a playmaker, especially from the middle of the ice where he battles for space and creates looks. That makes him an appealing partner for a winger like Lekkerimäki, who could benefit from pucks arriving on his stick in dangerous areas. Size could be a concern on paper, but Rossi plays bigger than his 5-foot-9 frame, and there’s value in what Lekkerimäki could learn from that style.
Then there’s Liam Öhgren, who already showed chemistry with Rossi as part of the BRO line. Öhgren brings a hard forecheck and some power-forward traits, which fits the kind of winger profile that could complement Rossi and Lekkerimäki. There’s also some existing history between Öhgren and Lekkerimäki, which only adds to the appeal.
On paper, an Öhgren-Rossi-Lekkerimäki line makes sense. Lekkerimäki could even slide into the kind of role Brock Boeser has filled on that unit, since the two share plenty of structural similarities in their game.
Of course, there are other ways this could go. Lekkerimäki might click with Braeden Cootes in camp, and the Canucks could build a scoring line around that pairing.
And once the season starts, line combinations will inevitably change. If Lekkerimäki makes the roster, he’ll probably see a lot of different looks over the course of the year.
Still, if the goal is to put him in the best position to succeed right now, Rossi’s wing looks like the strongest starting point.
That choice would also shape the rest of the top six. If Jake DeBrusk is still on the roster, he can stay beside Pettersson on another scoring line. The other wing could go to Boeser or Karlsson, with O’Connor also in the mix if the team wants to give him more opportunity.
Those aren’t flashy combinations, but that’s not really the point of 2026-27. This is a developmental season. If the Canucks can get Lekkerimäki, and Öhgren too, into spots where they can grow, that would still be time well spent.
And that’s the real priority here. Even if Boeser looks like a strong fit on the BRO line during camp, Vancouver may still be better off giving that spot to Lekkerimäki.
The long-term picture matters more than the short-term scoring punch. For this season, the best use of the roster may simply be putting Lekkerimäki in the best possible situation to succeed.
For now, that situation looks like Rossi’s wing. But until camp starts, it’s still just the theory.
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