The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Mikko Lehtonen to one-year deal in the the first part of the off-season.
Mikko Lehtonen was one of (perhaps THE) most sought after KHL free-agents to come to North America since Artemi Panarin, and the Toronto Maple Leafs emerged victorious from a pool that included almost every other NHL team and were able to sign the potential superstar.
Lehtonen is the reining KHL defenseman of the year and widely considered to be the best defenseman in the world not currently playing in the NHL. With apologies to Alexis Lafreniere, it is possible Lehtonen is the best player not currently in the NHL.
The Leafs signed Lehtonen to a one-year $925 K contract which will see him become an unrestricted free agent after this season. (Capfriendly.com).
Toronto Maple Leafs and Mikko Lehtonen
The big news this morning was that Mikko Lehtonen has opted out of his KHL deal and will be coming to Toronto.
#Jokerit and Mikko Lehtonen have mutually agreed to terminate the player’s contract. Next stop for him is Toronto.
— Jokerit Helsinki (@Jokerit_EN) November 20, 2020
Thank you Mikko and all the best in North America!#KHL pic.twitter.com/OgrrJVMuVV
Lehtonen was playing for Joker Helsinki, a KHL team out of Finland (and one with the absolute worst logo in the history of professional sports, and possibly logos).
During his time in the KHL, Lehtonen scored 49 points in 60 games last year, and has 17 points in 17 games this year (hockeydb.com). He is 5’11, shoots left, but can play both sides, and is primarily known as a puck moving defenseman. Since that is more or less the only type of defenseman the Toronto Maple Leafs employ, he should fit right in.
There is, of course, a ton of competition for jobs on the Toronto blue line, but Lehtonen is favored to win one. The hope is that he provides the Toronto Maple Leafs with a potential star for near the league minimum, but who knows?
The last couple of times the Leafs tried this – with Nikita Zaitsev and Igor Oliganov – it didn’t work out too hot. That being said, neither of those players was considered anywhere close to as good as Lehtonen is.
How good Lehtonen is going to be is anyone’s guess, but the KHL is the second best hockey league on earth, and players who dominate the even in the AHL tend to have NHL success. There is no guarantees, but if I was a betting man I’d bet on Lehtonen winning a regular job with the Leafs and earning a pretty big contract for next season.
If he comes anywhere close to living up to the hype the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have a huge advantage.