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Mikko Lehtonen (ice hockey, born 1994)

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Not to be confused with Mikko Lehtonen (ice hockey, born 1987).

Mikko Lehtonen
Lehtonen with ZSC Lions in 2024
Born (1994-01-16) 16 January 1994 (age 30)
Turku, Finland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NL team
Former teams		 ZSC Lions
TPS
KooKoo
HV71
Tappara
Jokerit
Toronto Maple Leafs
Columbus Blue Jackets
SKA Saint Petersburg
National team  Finland
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2011–present

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

Playing career

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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 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 Hockey League (SHL) 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 for three consecutive months from November to January. He had a goal and three assists in six KHL playoff games before the season's cancellation.

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 Vehviläinen.[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]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lehtonen decided to participate in the 2021–22 KHL postseason, despite the exit of most Finnish players and two of the KHL's non-Russia-based teams.[10]

International play

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Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Beijing
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Slovakia
Gold medal – first place 2022 Finland
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sweden

Internationally, Lehtonen has represented Finland at multiple events, including 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 2022, getting gold and recognition on the Olympic All-Star Team at the 2022 games. In addition, he played at the 2014 World Junior Championships, where he captured gold.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11 TPS FIN U18 18 8 15 23 14 12 0 3 3 20
2010–11 TPS Jr. A 12 1 5 6 2 — — — — —
2011–12 TPS FIN U18 1 0 1 1 6 8 1 2 3 6
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 — — — — —
2021–22 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 15 1 7 8 2 15 1 6 7 2
2022–23 ZSC Lions NL 52 7 23 30 24 9 2 3 5 0
2023–24 ZSC Lions NL 51 4 26 30 10 15 0 2 2 6
Liiga totals 220 30 49 79 72 16 1 3 4 10
KHL totals 92 26 48 74 28 21 2 9 11 14
NHL totals 26 0 6 6 8 — — — — —

International

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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 WJC18 4th 7 0 1 1 0
2014 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 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 1st place, gold medalist(s) 10 1 6 7 0
2022 Finland OG 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 1 3 4 4
2022 Finland WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 10 2 10 12 2
2023 Finland WC 7th 8 2 3 5 0
2024 Finland WC 8th 8 1 2 3 0
Junior totals 24 1 4 5 8
Senior totals 53 9 24 30 6

Awards and honours

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Award Year
Mestis
Second All-Star Team 2014
SHL
Le Mat Trophy champion 2017
NL
Champion (ZSC Lions) 2024 [11]
International
WC All-Star Team 2019, 2022 [12][13]
Olympic All-Star Team 2022 [14]
WC Best Defenseman 2022 [13]

References

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  1. ^ Eliteprospects.com – 2011–12 TPS player statistics
  2. ^ Lehtinen, Lauri (20 May 2018). "Tähtipuolustaja jättää Tapparan kesken sopimuksen – palaa Ruotsiin". aamulehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Defenseman Lehtonen to Jokerit" (in Finnish). Jokerit. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Maple Leafs sign Mikko Lehtonen". Toronto Maple Leafs. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Lehtonen loaned back to Jokerit" (in Finnish). Jokerit. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Maple Leafs Mikko Lehtonen terminates contract with Jokerit". Sportsnet.ca. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Blue Jackets acquire Lehtonen in trade with Leafs". ESPN.com. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Blue Jackets place defenceman Mikko Lehtonen on waivers for buyout". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Mikko Lehtonen joins SKA" (in Russian). SKA Saint Petersburg. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Suomalainen kiekkotähti sai rahakkaan tarjouksen Venäjältä – reaktio on paljonpuhuva". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 16 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  11. ^ "The ZSC Lions win the 2023-24 championship". swisshockeynews.ch. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Stone named MVP". IIHF. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Olkinuora MVP, All-Stars named". IIHF. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Slafkovsky voted MVP". IIHF. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
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