Building Blue: Jonathan Lekkerimäki Returns for his Third and Final Year at the World Juniors

The most experienced of the Vancouver Canucks’ three World Junior Championship participants, Jonathan Lekkerimäki returns to the tournament for the third time and has confidence in his back pocket.

Lekkerimäki was drafted 15th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and has had a great start to his 2023-24 season. The 19-year-old winger who will wear number 23 for Sweden moved up to the SHL this season to play with Örebro and he has scored 10 goals and added six assists through 24 games.

After an up-and-down season in his draft-plus-one year, the 19-year-old sniper has had some better showings with his good health this season. Health was important in the offseason as well, it gave Lekkerimäki a chance to work hard and add strength that has helped him be an effective forechecker this season for Örebro.

Two years ago, Lekkerimäki led the U18 tournament with 15 points in six games. Now, he and his Swedish teammates will look to capture another gold medal with much of the same group from that U18 team that took home gold back in 2021. 

“We have a lot of players from last year’s World Junior team and the U18s too,” said Lekkerimäki. “We feel very good and I think we have a very good chance to win.”

In pre-tournament games, Lekkerimäki has been playing right wing on Sweden’s top line and has been a key player on the first power play unit.

“I think we have good chemistry on the power play, it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m going to go and do my thing there,” said Lekkerimäki when asked about Sweden’s man-advantage group. 

Lekkerimäki said that he’s made a lot of improvements to his game both offensively and defensively since last year’s tournament. He also mentioned that his confidence is much higher due to his successful start to the season in the SHL.

This third tournament means a lot to Lekkerimäki. He’s captured a bronze medal at the 2022 WJC that took place in the summer but this year, Lekkerimäki will be looked to be one of the offensive leaders on the team. 

As for his fellow Canucks draft picks, Lekkerimäki likes the fact that Elias Pettersson is back on the team and that D-Petey will be there to be physical and stick up for teammates if he needs to. 

“He’s a big part of our team,” said Lekkerimäki about D-Petey. “Elias always has his teammates’ backs. It’s great to have him on the team.”

Tom Willander hasn’t been a part of this age group very much and will be able to play in next year’s tournament but Lekkerimäki sees some great additions to the team with Willander on the roster.

“He’s new to the group but he’s got a big part,” said Lekkerimäki. “He’s skilled and brings an offensive game. It’s fun to have three Canucks prospects here on our team.”

Sweden’s schedule for the WJC: 

Tuesday, December 26th – 10:30 am PT vs Latvia  
Thursday, December 28th – 10:30 am PT vs Germany  
Friday, December 29th – 10:30 am PT vs Canada  
Sunday, December 31st – 5:30 am PT vs Finland