Elias Pettersson broke a couple of records in his one season in the SHL. With 56 points in the regular season, he broke Kent Nilsson's 42-year-old record for the most points ever by a junior-aged (under-20) player.
Then, with 10 goals and 19 points in 13 playoff games, he set new records in both goals and points for a junior-aged player in the SHL playoffs. That included a whopping six goals and 10 points in Växjö Lakers' four-game sweep of Skelleftea in the finals.
There's one record that he didn't break, however. With 24 goals in the regular season, Pettersson came four goals short of Nilsson's record for the most goals by a junior-aged player. Instead, Pettersson sits second on that list — ahead of the likes of Peter Forsberg, Markus Näslund, and Daniel Sedin but still behind Nilsson.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki might be able to do what Pettersson could not.
With a hot start to his SHL season, the 19-year-old Lekkerimäki is on pace to set a new record for the most goals by a junior-aged player. So far, he is tied for the league lead in goalscoring with 7 goals in 12 games, putting him on pace for 30 goals — two more than Nilsson — over a full 52-game season.
Lekkerimäki is finding all sorts of ways to use his shot, whether it's one-timer blasts…
…finding a soft spot in the slot…
…wrist shot snipes to beat a goaltender cleanly from distance…
…or skating himself into a dangerous area of the ice with some impressive skating.
Along with the goals, Lekkerimäki has three assists, giving him 10 points through 12 games. He's also shown significant improvement away from the puck, with alert defensive plays and tenacity on the forecheck, both great signs for his development and potential to become a top-six forward in the NHL.
Now, let's be clear: Lekkerimäki is very unlikely to actually break Nilsson's record for most goals by a junior-aged player. It's not just that Lekkerimäki is currently riding a 30.4% shooting percentage that is all but certain to regress but also that he won't play all 52 games of Örebro's SHL season.
That's not to say that Lekkerimäki will get injured; instead, he's going to be busy representing Sweden internationally.
Lekkerimäki will be a key player for Sweden at the 2024 World Junior Championship, which runs from December 26 to January 5, though that doesn't include training and pre-tournament games. That means missing a minimum of four Örebro games for Lekkerimäki, potentially more depending on Sweden's schedule.
He could miss games for reasons other than the World Juniors. For example, Lekkerimäki will also be on Team Sweden for the 5-Nations tournament from November 9 to 12 — there are no Örebro games during the tournament but Lekkerimäki might still miss time training with the Swedish junior team in preparation for the tournament.
For context, Pettersson played 44 games with Växjö during his 19-year-old season in the SHL, missing a total of eight games due to the World Juniors and other tournaments with the Swedish junior team.
If Lekkerimäki similarly plays 44 games, is current scoring pace would land him at 26 goals — two more than Pettersson but two fewer than Nilsson.
Whether he managed to pass Pettersson and Nilsson or not, it's still a great sign that one of the Canucks' top prospects is off to such a torrid start to the season, particularly after he struggled last year in the Allsvenskan with injuries and disappointing performances. It's looking like Lekkerimäki may very well be the elite sniper the Canucks believed him to be when they picked him 15th overall in 2022.
