The Montreal Canadiens continue to wheel and deal on trade deadline day! Artturi Lehkonen is now a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
Lehoknen to Colorado in return for Justin Barron and a second round pick in '24. https://t.co/bKy1RDOrSr
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 21, 2022
Lehkonen was in the middle of many rumors in the last few weeks. With the rumblings that the Washington Capitals were pushing hard for the Finnish winger, Lehkonen finally ends up with the Colorado Avalanche. It was reported that Washington was insisting on giving goaltender Ilya Samsonov, but it’s obvious now with Jake Allen remaining with the club and Carey Price eyeing a return, the goaltending situation needed subtraction rather than addition.
In return, the Canadiens receive Justin Barron and a 2024 2nd round pick. Barron, 20, was Colorado’s 1st round pick in 2020. The 6’2″ 195 pound right shooting defenceman is a power hitter who’s not afraid to add to the offensive rush and is known to have a hard shot. This season with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL, Barron has 5 goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 43 games.
Baron might be familiar to some as he has played his juniors with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. He also represented Canada in the 2021 U20 International Junior Championship. In 7 games he tallied 2 assists.
Artturi Lehkonen was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2013 NHL draft. Known for his solid two-way play, Lehkonen becomes an important piece to the Avalanche’s quest for the Stanley Cup. In 396 career games with the Canadiens, Lehkonen amassed 74 goals and 75 assists for 149 points.
Of course, he will be best known for scoring the winning goal against the Vegas Golden Knights that sent the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup last season.