Jonathan Lekkerimäki came into the 2026-27 season with a familiar question hanging over him: was he really ready to stick as an NHL regular after two seasons and 37 games with the Vancouver Canucks? The organization acted like the answer was yes anyway, and four games in, that bet is looking smart.
The 21-year-old has opened the year with two goals and an assist, including a temporary game-tying goal against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. But the production is only part of the story.
What stands out is how settled he looks. Lekkerimäki doesn’t just look dangerous - he looks like he belongs.
The numbers back up the eye test. His Corsi rating sits at 48.48%, which ranks third among Canucks forwards behind only Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Räty. At five-on-five, he’s been on the ice for five goals for and only two against, a mark bettered on the team only by Luke Schenn, who has been on for three goals for and none against.
There’s probably a bit of good fortune mixed in, too. Vancouver has scored on 27.78% of its shots with Lekkerimäki on the ice, which is not exactly sustainable territory.
But the underlying profile is strong regardless. His on-ice Expected Goals rate is 55.42%, the best on the team so far, and his on-ice high-danger chance rate is 66.67%, second only to Jake DeBrusk, who did not allow a high-danger chance against in either of his two games.
That matters because it suggests Lekkerimäki isn’t just riding a hot streak. He’s driving play in a way that looks real, and that’s a big deal for a player trying to turn a brief opportunity into something lasting. This could be his best chance - maybe his last real one - to carve out a true NHL career.
What makes the start even more impressive is the context around it. Lekkerimäki had shoulder surgery in late February to fix a lingering issue, and the recovery was labeled “season-ending.”
He was back in the gym about seven weeks later, in April, but it’s fair to assume he still wasn’t at full strength then. That almost certainly limited how hard he could train over the summer, especially in the upper body area where he clearly needed more muscle.
Even though he was said to be fully healthy by September, it would have made sense to expect a slower opening to his season. It would have made sense to expect some patience. Some may have even wondered whether all the talk about him getting an almost-guaranteed NHL opportunity was a way of getting ahead of that reality.
So far, though, none of that has been necessary. He earned his place with his preseason play, and he’s backed it up through the first four games.
There’s still another wrinkle, though: Lekkerimäki has not exactly been handed a stable role. His ice time is only 11:37 per night, which is actually below his career average. And his line combinations have been all over the map.
He has already been part of 10 different forward combinations in four games. His most frequent full line has been with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk, but even that trio has only logged 13 minutes together.
His most common linemate overall has been Bains. Across the first four games, Lekkerimäki has been used on what amounts to just about every forward line the Canucks have rolled out.
Still, he’s produced no matter where he’s been slotted. He has recorded points with Pettersson as his centre, with Räty as his centre, and with Marco Rossi as his centre. That kind of versatility, in this kind of churn, is a strong sign that he’s really arrived.
The Canucks talked in the summer about putting Lekkerimäki in position to succeed. So far, it looks like they mostly just needed to put him in the NHL and let him go.
He’s facing roughly league-average competition, his zone starts are only slightly sheltered, and his linemates haven’t been carefully curated. He’s been tossed into the mix and has kept producing.
It’s only four games, of course. But these four games have shown far more NHL staying power than Lekkerimäki had in any previous run with Vancouver.
In that sense, he’s become a pretty good snapshot of the Canucks’ early-season story too. A few weeks ago, plenty of people thought he’d start in the AHL. Ryan Johnson and the rest of the front office saw it differently after their time with him in Abbotsford.
Right now, that belief is paying off with the best hockey of Lekkerimäki’s career. And if he keeps making the most of every chance he gets, there should be more of it coming.
In Other News...
Canucks Already Have An Aatu Rty Problem To Sort Out
Aatu Rty has barely gotten a foothold to start the 2026-27 season, sitting out the first two games as a healthy scratch and averaging just 9:43 of ice time when he has dressed. Before the Canucks headed out on their road trip, he was the extra forward at Tuesdays practice, which is not exactly the kind of usage that suggests a growing role. For a young player still trying to carve out a place in the lineup, it is already a delicate spot.
The bigger issue is what comes next, because the Canucks do not have many easy options if they decide he is not fitting cleanly into their system. Rtys path to a more secure role may involve a shift to wing, but even that comes with its own challenges, and the club cannot simply tuck him away in the AHL without risking losing him on waivers. For a team that would rather keep developing depth than giving it away, that makes his situation one to watch closely. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Loss Exposed The Early Problem Fans Were Worried About
Ottawas season opener had the kind of uneven start that can follow a team for a while, especially when the first period gets away from it early. The Senators fell 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena, and while there were positives on the scoresheet, the broader concern was familiar: Ottawa spent too much of the game on the back foot and had to chase after a rough opening stretch.
Tim Sttzle, William Eklund and Drake Batherson each chipped in with a goal and an assist, so the offense did show life. Samuel Ersson also settled in for his first start with Ottawa and made 31 saves, but the Senators were still dealing with early pressure and penalty trouble, the sort of issues that can quickly turn a tight game into one that feels like a scramble. [Read more 🡒]
Luke Schenn Knows What This Canucks Road Trip Could Really Build
On the eve of a long road trip, Luke Schenn was talking less about matchups and more about the small routines that can hold a team together when it leaves home. The veteran Canucks defenseman has spent years around different NHL rooms, and he said the culture around bonding has changed over time, but the purpose has stayed the same: team dinners, time away from the rink and a chance for players to connect and unwind.
For Vancouver, that matters now because the next stretch will keep the group away from home long enough for those habits to matter. Schenn framed the road as a place where a team can build something beyond the standings, and the Canucks are about to find out how much of that chemistry carries through a demanding trip through Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Florida and Tampa Bay. [Read more 🡒]