Back to a live setting for the first time since Rogers Arena in 2019, the NHL's 2022 Draft has delivered plenty of drama — but not much from the Vancouver Canucks.
The good news is that for the first time since taking Vasily Podkolzin 10th overall in 2019, the Canucks made a first-round pick. And apparently they got a player that the organization is very high on, in Jonathan Lekkerimaki.
The Swedish right winger rose from No. 9 at midterm to No. 6 among European skaters in the final rankings from NHL Central Scouting this spring. He was outstanding at the World U-18 Championship in Germany in April, where he earned a spot on the tournament All-Star Team.
The time difference made it difficult for me to catch those games this year. But Lekkerimaki led the entire tournament with five goals and 15 points in just six games. Playing on a line with Noah Ostlund and Liam Ohgren, who were taken just behind him at No. 16 (Buffalo) and No. 19 (Minnesota), Lekkerimaki put up a goal and three assists in the gold-medal game, helping Sweden defeat the United States despite being outshot 51-15.
Leading up to the draft, the Canucks were widely rumoured to be interested in a Swedish forward at No. 15. It was expected that Lekkerimaki would already be selected — Bob McKenzie had him at No. 8 on his scout's poll, and TSN's Craig Button also had him at No. 8 on his mock draft.
When he was still available, Patrik Allvin, decided to seize the moment rather than continue to pursue a potential trade-down opportunity.
"At the end of the day, we felt that Jonathan could be the difference maker," Allvin told the media Thursday, per
Patrick Johnston of The Province.
"You’re always hoping to have somebody sliding out there that our staff are liking and we're excited about. So yeah, we're really happy."
The top of the draft order got shuffled pretty intriguingly, particularly with Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec making history as the first two Slovak players ever selected that high — and marking just the second time that two non-North Americans from the same country were chosen with the top two picks, after Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin in 2004.
Some of the other prospects that intrigued me were also snatched up before the Canucks got a chance to make their selection. I thought Vancouver might get a crack at Austria's Marco Kasper, but he's now Steve Yzerman's latest find as Detroit's selection at No. 8.
When the 15th pick rolled around, I wondered if Vancouver might grab Finland's Joakim Kemell, a scoring threat who had been ranked first among Europeans at mid-terms and sat No. 2 in the final rankings, with a draft year that was derailed somewhat due to injury. He ended up going to Nashville at No. 17.
Lekkerimaki's shot is also his calling card and No. 1 asset.
"He might not have quite the same offensive pizzazz as Kemell, but he still projects as a top-six scoring forward,"
wrote McKenzie. "Our scouting survey ranked him as high as No. 4 and as low as No. 17."
Lekkerimaki will be a project for the new development squad. Listed at 5'10" and 171 pounds, he doesn't turn 18 until July 24.
And while he was selected by the Vancouver Giants in the WHL Import Draft, it's expected that he'll stay with the Djurgardens organization in Sweden next season. Lekkerimaki did get 26 games with the big club in the SHL last year, putting up nine points, but Djurgardens was relegated and will play in the second-tier Allsvenskan next year.
Of course, the other big news around the Canucks on Thursday was what didn't happen. The buzz around a possible J.T. Miller trade was deafening, and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman kicked off Thursday's draft-floor broadcast with a tidbit that he'd connected the Canucks to the Islanders, with the possibility of their 13th-overall pick being in play.
In the end, that pick landed with Chicago, who took the exuberant Frank Nazar from the U.S. National Development Team Program. Lou Lamoriello made the initial deal with Montreal's Kent Hughes, receiving young defenseman Alexander Romanov and a fourth-round pick in return. Then, Hughes sent the pick on to the Blackhawks to secure center Kirby Dach — a more NHL-ready option in the middle after he passed over Shane Wright at No. 1 overall.
When asked about a possible trade conversation with the Islanders by Friedman following Lekkerimaki's pick, a startled-looking Allvin offered a cheery "No comment." Later, there was a more strident denial.
And while Lamoriello is not shy about acquiring older players, I'm not sure the Islanders' cap situation could have accommodated a long-term contract for Miller. This year,
CapFriendly shows them with $12 million in available cap space and just three defensemen signed, with new contracts needed for Noah Dobson and now Romanov. In 2023-24, the Islanders already have seven players signed at $5 million or more, and will need to do a new deal for Mat Barzal, a restricted free agent whose qualifying offer will be $10 million.
We're into the late stages of Day 2 of the draft as I type this on Friday morning — and the picks are certainly moving along much more efficiently with everyone in one place than they did during the last two virtual drafts. So the window of opportunity to acquire draft picks or move up or down the draft order to facilitate a big trade is now pretty much gone. If a Miller deal doesn't go down before free agency opens on July 13, expect to see him at training camp at Whistler in September.
I'll dig more into Vancouver's later picks in future blogs — and hopefully we'll get to see some of the players in person at the Canucks' development camp next week.
For now, we've got the Canucks making a splash in the third round by selecting a back-up Elias Pettersson at No. 80. This one plays defense.
That makes him the second Swede selected by Vancouver this week who names the incumbent Elias Pettersson as his favourite player.
Vancouver's fourth-round pick, at No. 112, is Daimon Gardner, a big center from Ontario who spent last season playing Minnesota high school hockey along with a few games in the USHL. He is committed to the Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL next season before heading to Clarkson University in 2023-24, so he's a long-term project.
In the fifth round, at No. 144, Vancouver took a flyer on goaltender Ty Young of the Price George Cougars. Already 6'3" and 183 pounds, he doesn't turn 18 until September. He took a big leap up the Central Scouting goalie rankings in the second half of the season, moving from No. 21 all the way up to No. 6 among North Americans.
Vancouver's sixth-round pick at No. 176 is defenseman Jackson Dorrington. He's a lefty at 6'2"and 192 pounds who played in the USHL last season; he's committed to Northeastern this fall.
The Canucks have one pick remaining — the 15th selection in Round 7, at No. 208.
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