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Mikko Lehtonen
2017 C1C - FIN v KOR - Mikko Lehtonen (born 1994)
Born (1994-01-16)16 January 1994,
Turku, Finland
Height
Weight
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
KHL team
F. teams
SKA Saint Petersburg
TPS
KooKoo
HV71
Tappara
Jokerit
Toronto Maple Leafs
Columbus Blue Jackets
Ntl. team Flag of Finland Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2011–present


Mikko Lehtonen (born 16 January 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has previously played with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career[]

Lehtonen made his SM-liiga debut playing with TPS during the 2011–12 season.[1] For the season 2015–2016, Lehtonen moved to the team KooKoo for a two-year contract. He made his breakthrough in the league and made all the 60 regular rounds. Lehtonen ranked Juha Leimu of Pelicans in the second round of the SM Liiga defender's goal. In the 2016–17 season he was KooKoo's second best point-keeper and the most powerful defender until the threshold of the Liiga move. In February 2017, Lehtonen spent the rest of the season for the Swedish SHL League in HV71 and he won the Swedish Championship at the end of the season.

Lehtonen moved to Tappara for the 2017–18 season agreeing to an initial two-year contract. In 2018, Lehtonen left Tappara by mutual consent and re-joined HV71 of the SHL.[2]

On 9 April 2019, Lehtonen as a free agent left HV71, returning to Finland in signing a two-year contract with KHL participant, Jokerit.[3]

Lehtonen, appeared in 60 games with Jokerit during the 2019–20 season and registered 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists), which led all KHL defencemen. He represented Jokerit at the 2020 KHL All-Star Game and was named KHL Defenceman of the Month in three consecutive months from November to January. He had a goal and three assists in six KHL playoff games prior to the cancellation of the season.

As a free agent Lehtonen gained NHL interest and on 4 May 2020, the Toronto Maple Leafs, signed Lehtonen to a one-year entry level contract for the 2020–21 season.[4] With the North American season delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on 1 August 2020, Lehtonen was returned to Jokerit on loan until the resumption of NHL training camp in November.[5] Lehtonen was released from his contract with Jokerit on 20 November 2020, having collected 17 points through 17 games.[6]

On 12 March 2021, Lehtonen was traded by the Maple Leafs to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Veini Vehvilainen.[7]

After the 2020–21 season, Lehtonen signed a one-year contract to return to Columbus. However, on 12 October 2021, it was announced that he was suspended by the team and placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout after failing to report to the Cleveland Monsters, the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate.[8] As a free agent from the Blue Jackets, on 17 October 2021, Lehtonen returned to the KHL in agreeing to a four-year contract with Russian based outfit, SKA Saint Petersburg.[9]

International play[]

Internationally, Lehtonen has represented Finland at multiple events, include the World Championships in 2017 and 2019, winning gold at the 2019 tournament and earning recognition on the World Championship All-Star Team. He also skated for Finland at the Olympic Games in 2018 and the 2014 World Junior Championships, where he captured gold.

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11 TPS Jr. A 12 1 5 6 2
2011–12 TPS Jr. A 39 8 19 27 24
2011–12 TPS SM-l 12 0 0 0 2
2012–13 TPS Jr. A 39 6 23 29 30 9 1 1 2 16
2012–13 TPS SM-l 13 0 1 1 2
2013–14 TUTO Hockey Mestis 46 5 13 18 14 12 1 7 8 20
2014–15 TPS Liiga 37 0 2 2 8
2014–15 TUTO Hockey Mestis 19 0 9 9 4 15 3 6 9 8
2015–16 KooKoo Liiga 60 12 10 22 16
2016–17 KooKoo Liiga 43 6 19 25 20
2016–17 HV71 SHL 9 0 0 0 0 16 0 4 4 4
2017–18 Tappara Liiga 55 12 17 29 24 16 1 3 4 10
2018–19 HV71 SHL 52 5 19 24 30 9 1 4 5 6
2019–20 Jokerit KHL 60 17 32 49 20 6 1 3 4 12
2020–21 Jokerit KHL 17 8 9 17 6
2020–21 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 9 0 3 3 4
2020–21 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 17 0 3 3 4
Liiga totals 220 30 49 79 72 16 1 3 4 10
SHL totals 61 5 19 24 30 25 1 8 9 10
KHL totals 77 25 41 66 26 6 1 3 4 12
NHL totals 26 0 6 6 8
Medal record
Ice hockey
Competitor for Flag of Finland Finland
Olympic Games
Gold 2022 Beijing
World Championships
Gold 2019 Slovakia
World Junior Championships
Gold 2014 Sweden

International[]

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2011 Finland U17 7th 5 1 1 2 4
2011 Finland IH18 4th 5 0 1 1 0
2012 Finland U18 4th 7 0 1 1 0
2014 Finland WJC Gold medal icon 7 0 1 1 4
2017 Finland WC 4th 10 2 0 2 0
2018 Finland OG 6th 1 0 0 0 0
2019 Finland WC Gold medal icon 10 1 6 7 0
2022 Finland OG Gold medal icon 6 1 3 4 4
Junior totals 24 1 4 5 8
Senior totals 27 4 9 13 4

Awards and honours[]

Award Year
Mestis
Second All-Star Team 2014
Liiga
Runner-up (Tappara) 2018
SHL
Le Mat Trophy (HV71) 2017

References[]

External links[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mikko Lehtonen (ice hockey, born 1994). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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