Before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline, the Finnish forward was one of the few players on the Habs who was actually having a good season, scoring 29 points, including 13 goals, in 58 games to that point.
His play was so impressive that Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic was persistent in acquiring Kent Hughes and the Habs GM finally succumbed to the temptation to let him go. He knew his value was very good and he got young defenseman Justin Barron and a second round pick in 2024 in return.
Despite the price tag for acquiring him, Avalanche officials are certainly not disappointed with the turn of events as the team got their hands on a first Stanley Cup in 21 years and for the icing on the sundae, it was Lehkonen himself who scored the winning goal in Game 6 of the Finals.
Obviously members of the Habs organization are very happy for him, and as reported by my colleagues at Fanadiens.com, one person in particular made a point of congratulating No. 62 on his accomplishments.
Chantal Machabée, the Canadiens' vice-president of hockey communications, took the opportunity to send him a nice message via her Twitter account.
This is a very nice gesture on her part, as she worked with him for many seasons while covering the Habs for RDS.
The Finnish forward finished the playoffs with an excellent 14 points, including eight goals, in 20 games. He scored the same number of goals as Conn-Smythe Trophy winner Cale Makar.
Lehkonen will be a compensated free agent this summer and is likely to get a big pay raise after earning $2.3 million this season.
Bravo Artturi!
POLL | ||
Are you happy for Lehky? | ||
Yes he deserves it | 450 | 89.8 % |
Mehhh | 51 | 10.2 % |
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