Montreal Canadiens Jesse Ylonen Off To Strong Start in Finland

The Montreal Canadiens selected Jesse Ylonen in the second round of the NHL Draft. He began his preseason with the Lahti Pelicans today and performed very well.

The Montreal Canadiens have not been shy to acquire players from Finland over the past few seasons. They drafted Jesperi Kotkaniemi third overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. They have had Artturi Lehkonen as their property since selecting him in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft. Joel Armia was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets a year ago and Otto Leskinen was signed as an undrafted free agent in May.

They also have Jesse Ylonen in the system. He was taken in the same draft as Kotkaniemi, 32 picks later in the second round. Ylonen is a quick player who can handle the puck with ease and make plays to setup teammates around him.

Born in Scottsdale, Arizona when his father Juha was playing for the Coyotes, Jesse was raised and played all of his hockey in Finland growing up. Last season, he was a rookie in Liiga, the top league in Finland, with the Lahti Pelicans.

He got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, as he was just 18 when the season began. However, he picked up his game as the campaign went along and finished strong. He ended the season with 13 goals and 27 points in 53 games. He will get a bigger role with the Pelicans this season.

In fact, the Pelicans began their preseason tournament this morning, and Ylonen was penciled in as their first line right winger. He did not disappoint, opening the scoring on a power play.

You can see Ylonen working in the slot, opening up for a one-timer opportunity as his teammates fire the puck around in the offensive zone. As soon as the puck goes down low and the defenceman turns his back to Ylonen, he darts to the right to get open for a pass. Once the pass is made he quickly one-times it giving the goaltender no chance to get set properly for the shot and  it is 1-0.

He would also set up the second goal, giving his team a 2-0 lead early in the second period.

This is what Ylonen is more known for. He makes a quick decision with the loose puck to move it up ice and finds an open teammate leaving the defensive zone with speed. It actually looks like he might be trying to hit the closer teammate who he sees heading up ice just before he gets to the puck, but that player allows it to go through to the third forward on the line.

The Pelicans are in a unique preseason tournament today. The games are just two periods that are 15 minutes each. They are in action again shortly and the top four teams move on to play in the semi-finals later with a championship game planned for this evening. It is a classic tournament setup that you would have played at your local rink when you were in peewee, but it’s a cool way to kick off the season for these pros.

The Pelicans ended up tying their opening game 2-2 with Ylonen collecting a goal and an assist. They will need to win their next matchup to have a chance at moving on to the semi-finals.

It’s great to see Ylonen get off to a strong start and hopefully he can cement his role as a first line winger and the trigger man on the power play. It would lead to a great final season in Finland before he makes the move to North America in 2020. It won’t be long after that before he joins his Finnish brethren with the Habs if he continues to play like this.