Montreal Canadiens Call Up Rookie Left Defenceman Otto Leskinen
The Montreal Canadiens have been trying to patch together the left side of their defence all season. An injury to Victor Mete has them scrambling for solutions. Otto Leskinen will be the next player given a shot.
The Montreal Canadiens signed Otto Leskinen as an undrafted free agent last summer. He was a relative unknown around National Hockey League circles, but what we immediately found out about him was he is a left shooting defenceman who is a great skater and has an offensive-minded style of play.
He had played two seasons of professional hockey in Liiga with Kalpa Kuopio. He scored 31 points in 53 games in his final season there before signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Canadiens on May 7th. His 31 points ranked him 7th among defensemen in Finland’s top league.
Leskinen is a 22 year old who has shown all the skills that were attributed to him on the day he signed with the Canadiens. He has played 24 games with the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League and has one goal and 12 points.
The Habs have been struggling to find the right mix on the left side of their blue line all season. With Victor Mete injured and placed on injured reserve, the Canadiens announced that Leskinen has been called up to the National Hockey League for the first time in his career.
Leskinen has been playing well for the Rocket, showing off the skating, puck carrying, and offensive minded skills that earned him a contract in the first place. He had seven points in his last nine games with the Rocket and will now be given a chance to prove what he can do on the biggest stage.
It will be interesting to see how the Habs use Leskinen in the coming days. They already have Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and Mike Reilly on the roster on the lefts side. Kulak and Reilly have struggled to earn the trust of the Canadiens coaching staff. This opens up a possibility for someone who can move the puck and play solid defensively to play big minutes in the next few games before Mete returns to the lineup.
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Will it be Leskinen who earns a spot in the four? We will have to wait and see, but he has a great opportunity in front of him to earn a big role if he can outperform the struggling Kulak and Reilly.