Jonathan Lekkerimaki on the opening roster: Here's what needs to happen

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Cooper Godin
September 29, 2024 (11:57)

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A reporter recently shared what needs to happen for Jonathan Lekkerimaki to be on Vancouver's opening night roster.

The Vancouver Canucks have just two preseason games remaining before they need to figure out what their opening night roster looks like ahead of the submission deadline of 5 pm ET on Monday, October 7th.

For Vancouver Canucks top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki, he's making a very strong case in training camp so far for his inclusion on the roster. So far, Lekkerimaki has appeared in three games in the preseason, registering three points including a goal on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.

In a recent article on The Province, Patrick Johnston took a look at what will need to happen for Jonathan Lekkerimaki to be on the team's opening night roster and in the lineup on October 9th as the Canucks host the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena.

Johnston mentions that Lekkerimaki has played well enough, but with depth players such as Nils Aman and Phil Di Giuseppe needing waivers, it could complicate things. Another big factor here is the Canucks' cap situation. Thatcher Demko and Dakota Joshua will likely be on regular injured reserve to start the year and if the team doesn't want to risk losing Aman & Di Giuseppe on waivers, they may need to put Tucker Poolman on LTIR. That would then give Patrik Allvin enough cap space to call Jonathan Lekkerimaki up in time for the team's first game of the season.

"The minimum term required to go on LTIR means neither Demko nor Joshua seem likely options - even if we don't know when they'll be back - but Tucker Poolman is. Poolman isn't going to play this season but he's still got one year left of his contract." Johnston said.

He added, "Doing so would open up about $1.8 million in cap flexibility, so you could call up Lekkerimaki, whose cap hit is far lower."

We'll have to wait and see what the Canucks decide to do with their opening night roster, but if Jonathan Lekkerimaki performs well in the team's next two preseason games, as he did in his first three, then it wouldn't be surprising to see him in the lineup on October 9th.