Montreal Canadiens Top Prospects Countdown: #28: Otto Leskinen

Montreal Canadiens general manager has compiled a long list of prospects. We are counting down the top 30.

Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has assembled a long list of solid prospects for the Habs cupboards. He has loaded up on picks for three straight drafts and has 14 more for next year’s event.

This has led to the team having one of the deepest and best groups of prospects in the league.

So, the team at A Winning Habit wanted to do a lengthy list of the team’s top prospects. First we thought it would be a top ten, but then realized some great players were left off so we expanded it to 20. We still had the same problem, so we decided on a top 30 prospects countdown.

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We started the countdown with Jack Gorniak at #30 and yesterday we looked at Jacob LeGuerrier who came in at #29. Today, we keep working our way up the Habs impressive list of prospects and find Otto Leskinen at #28.

Leskinen went undrafted when he was eligible back in 2015. He remained in his home country of Finland and landed on the Habs radar. The Canadiens would sign him to a two-year entry-level contract in May of 2019.

Before signing with the Habs, Leskinen had played his entire career in Finland. He played basically his whole life in the Kalpa organization. He was in their Junior program as a teenager and scored six goals and 31 points in 28 games in 2015-16, his final year in the Under-20 program.

Leskinen played the following three season with Kalpa’s Liiga team, suiting up in the men’s pro league before he turned 20.

The 5’11” and 187 pound left defenceman applied himself well in Liiga. He scored two goals and ten points in 50 games as a rookie, then increased those totals to 13 points in 52 games the following year and in his final season before signing with the Habs, he scored eight goals and 31 points in 57 games.

The 2019-20 season was Leskinen’s first outside of Finland. He played most of the year with the Laval Rocket, but earned a short call up to the Canadiens when a few injuries occurred. He played well for the Rocket, scoring two goals and 22 points in 52 games.

Leskinen’s best assets are definitely on the offensive side of the game. He has great vision with the puck and can make a great breakout or cross-ice pass in the offensive zone. He also has a decent shot, though his two goals don’t give the whole picture about how hard he can hammer a puck from the blue line.

Where we ranked him:

Ken MacMillan: 26th

Sebastian High: 30th

Teddy Elliott: 27th

Scott Cowan: 25th

The 23 year old has begun this season back in Finland with Kalpa since the AHL season isn’t likely to begin until February. He has scored two goals and seven points in just eight game to begin the Liiga season.

Interestingly, the left shot is playing primarily on the right side. The Canadiens blue line is quite deep on the left, especially with Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov joining the team for next season. There could be an opening on the right side behind Shea Weber and Jeff Petry, though it is most likely that a left shot like Romanov or Victor Mete moves over to fill it. Or, a young right shot like Noah Juulsen or Cale Fleury fills the role.

That is while everyone is healthy. Once the inevitable injuries occur, especially in a condensed schedule like we are sure to see, having a versatile young blue liner like Leskinen isn’t bad depth to have in the AHL.

Leskinen surprised many when he received a five game NHL audition last season. He won’t start next year in the NHL, but don’t be surprised if he gets another stint with the Montreal Canadiens after impressing in Laval to begin the season.