PENTICTON – When he was drafted 15th overall by the Vancouver Canucks four years ago, Jonathan Lekkerimaki immediately became the biggest fish in a prospect pool so shallow that you could have waded through it without getting your shoelaces wet.

Some would argue he was the only fish.

The Canucks, under previous general manager Jim Benning, had just gone through a pair of drafts in which they selected only twice in the top 112 and not higher than 41st. 

Lekkerimaki instantly became the National Hockey League organization’s No. 1 prospect, a scoring winger whose development was going to be crucial for the future.

A year later, the Canucks drafted Tom Willander, who has already become an NHL regular on defence alongside Elias Pettersson (Junior), selected 65 spots behind Lekkerimaki in 2022.

In the last two drafts, the Canucks added Braeden Cootes, Caleb Malhotra, Adam Novotny and Brooks Rogowski, and last season’s trade with the Minnesota Wild also brought to Vancouver Zeev Buium and Liam Ohgren, Lekkerimaki’s friend and former junior teammate in Sweden.

“Prospects” is a bit of a catch-all term, but all of these young players project ahead of Lekkerimaki, who has demonstrated scoring chops at the American League level (33 goals in 63 games) but little in various call-ups with the Canucks (five goals and nine points in 37 NHL games).

Mostly, Lekkerimaki has struggled to stay healthy, and last season he was shut down in February for shoulder surgery due to an injury initially sustained during an October game against the Washington Capitals.

At 22 years old, the right-shot winger obviously still has time to build an NHL career. But the clock is ticking, and with his waivers-free period ending at the start of next season,........

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