from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Of all the European import signings who have been trickling into the NHL over the past month, Mikko Lehtonen could make the greatest immediate impact.

Let the bidding begin.

Lehtonen and Jokerit mutually agreed to terminate the defenceman’s contract one season early Friday, leaving the 26-year-old free to sign in North America and chase a Stanley Cup as soon as the 2020–21 season.

Never drafted, Lehtonen hails from the cultural centre of Turku, the oldest city in Finland and the same one that blessed the NHL with Miikka Kiprusoff, the Koivu brothers, Rasmus Ristolainen and Kaapo Kakko.

Lehtonen is a left-shot offensive defenceman who can quarterback a power play and wields a seeing-eye wrister from the point. He won gold medals with his country at the 2014 world juniors and 2019 world championships. He also repped for Finland at the 2018 Olympic Games. He has bounced around Europe’s top circuits, starring in the Finnish and Swedish Elite leagues before dominating in his first season in the KHL.

continued plus more hockey topics...