Quickly after bringing back Joel Armia, the Montreal Canadiens have announced they have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with Artturi Lehkonen at an AAV of $2.4 million per year ($4.8 in total). Lehkonen tallied 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 82 games played.
Just like Joel Armia’s contract, Artturi Lehkonen’s carries with it a very fair AAV and term giving them a chance to earn contracts with bigger pay and better term two years down the road while also allowing the Montreal Canadiens to have enough space to make moves if the need were to arise. These are two very good contracts by Marc Bergevin.
At the moment, the Montreal Canadiens $4,844,524 million available in projected cap space but this is not taking into account that the organization is most likely to send Karl Alzner and Dale Weise to the Laval Rocket, in turn freeing up another few million.
How Does the Contract Look?
Just like Armia’s contract, Lehkonen’s carries with it a very fair AAV and term giving them a chance to earn contracts with bigger pay and better term two years down the road while also allowing the Montreal Canadiens to have enough space to make moves if the need were to arise.
With Lehkonen re-signed, Claude Julien and his coaching staff can reunite the all-Finnish line that includes Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia, a line that had much success during the 2018-19 regular season.
Is Artturi Lehkonen Due for a Breakout Year?
During his rookie year, Artturi Lehkonen scored 18 goals, leading many to think he would cross the 20-goal threshold in the following years. However, in the following two seasons, Lehkonen scored 12 goals and 11 goals, respectively.
Some of this lack of offense is due to bad luck as even though Lehkonen always seemed to be at the right place and the right time, he could not capitalize on his opportunities.
Considering how good of a shot Lehkonen has, it should not be too long until he puts the pieces together and finds the same goal-scoring success he had in his rookie year, though we are not sure how much longer we can keep saying this
For the time being, Claude Julien will probably use Lehkonen in the same defensive role as the last season which is not a problem as Lehkonen has a very high hockey IQ, allowing him to play a smart two-way game on the third line.