Mikko Lehtonen (ice hockey player, 1994)

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FinlandFinland  Mikko Lehtonen Ice hockey player
Mikko Lehtonen (ice hockey player, 1994)
Date of birth January 16, 1994
place of birth Turku , Finland
size 183 cm
Weight 89 kg
position defender
Shot hand Left
Career stations
until 2015 TPS Turku
TuTo Hockey
2015-2017 KooKoo
2017 HV71
2017-2018 Tappara Tampere
2018-2019 HV71
since 2019 Jokerit Helsinki

Mikko Kasper Lehtonen (born January 16, 1994 in Turku ) is a Finnish ice hockey player who has been under contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) since May 2020 and has been on loan with Jokerit Helsinki from the continental region since August 2020 Hockey League (KHL) plays on the position of defender . He took part in the 2018 Winter Olympics with the Finnish national team and won the gold medal with them at the 2019 World Cup .

Career

Mikko Lehtonen was born in Turku and went through the junior departments of TPS Turku there . For his men's selection, he made his debut during the 2011/12 season in the SM-liiga , Finland's highest-ranking division, which was to operate a little later under the name Liiga. Between 2013 and 2015, the defender was also on loan for TuTo Hockey in the second-class Mestis . For the 2015/16 season he moved to KooKoo and established himself in the Liiga at the same time, playing 60 games and recording 22 scorer points . After about a year and a half in Kouvola , Lehtonen was signed by HV71 from Jönköping , Sweden , where he promptly won the Svenska Hockeyligan (SHL) playoffs and the Swedish championship at the end of the 2016/17 season . As a result, the Finn returned for another year in the Liiga, where he ran up for Tappara Tampere , also reached the final of the playoffs and there, however, Karpät Oulu was defeated (2: 4). The changes between Finland then continued, so he was on the ice again at HV71 in 2018/19 before he was signed in April 2019 by the Jokerit from Helsinki , who take part in the game operations of the Continental Hockey League (KHL).

He finished the 2019/20 KHL season as a defender with the most goals in the league (17), assists (32) and thus scorer points (49). As a result, he represented his team at the KHL All-Star Game , while franchises of the National Hockey League (NHL) became aware of him. Lehtonen finally moved there in May 2020 when he signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs . At the beginning of August, the Maple Leafs agreed with Jokerit that the Finn would continue to spend the 2020/21 season on loan in the KHL.

International

Lehtonen gained his first international experience in 2011 when he took part in the World U-17 Hockey Challenge , the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival and the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament with the Finnish offspring . At the European Olympic Winter Youth Festival he won the silver medal. This was followed by participation in the U18 World Cup in 2012 and the U20 World Cup in 2014 , with the defender winning the gold medal with the U20 national team of his home country. For the senior national team of Finland debuted Lehtonen during the World Cup in 2017 and represented them in the following year even at the Winter Olympics in 2018 in Pyeongchang . At the 2019 World Cup , he led his team as assistant captain to the third world championship title.

Achievements and Awards

  • 2019 KHL Defender of the Month for November
  • 2019 KHL Defender of the Month for December
  • 2020 participation in the KHL All-Star Game
  • 2020 KHL Defender of the Month January

International

Career statistics

Status: end of the 2019/20 season

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt +/- SM Sp T V Pt +/- SM
2010/11 TPS Turku U20 U20 SM-sarja 12 1 5 6th +5 2 - - - - - -
2011/12 TPS Turku U20 U20 SM-sarja 39 8th 19th 27 +15 24 - - - - - -
2011/12 TPS Turku SM-liiga 12 0 0 0 -4 2 - - - - - -
2012/13 TPS Turku U20 U20 SM-sarja 39 6th 23 29 +12 30th 9 1 1 2 -2 16
2012/13 TPS Turku SM-liiga 13 0 1 1 -1 2 - - - - - -
2013/14 TuTo hockey Mestis 46 5 13 18th +22 14th 12 1 7th 8th ± 0 20th
2014/15 TuTo hockey Mestis 19th 0 9 9 +6 4th 15th 3 6th 9 -1 8th
2014/15 TPS Turku Liiga 37 0 2 2 -10 8th - - - - - -
2015/16 KooKoo Liiga 60 12 10 22nd –6 16 - - - - - -
2016/17 KooKoo Liiga 43 6th 19th 25th –11 20th - - - - - -
2016/17 HV71 SHL 9 0 0 0 ± 0 0 16 0 4th 4th +7 4th
2017/18 Tappara Tampere Liiga 55 12 17th 29 +4 24 16 1 3 4th -1 10
2018/19 HV71 SHL 52 5 19th 24 +9 30th 9 1 4th 5 +1 6th
2019/20 Jokerit Helsinki KHL 60 17th 32 49 +26 20th 6th 1 3 4th +1 12
U20 SM-sarja total 90 15th 47 62 +32 56 9 1 1 2 -2 16
Mestis total 65 5 22nd 27 +28 18th 27 4th 13 17th -1 28
(SM-) Liiga overall 220 30th 49 79 -28 72 16 1 3 4th -1 10
SHL total 61 5 19th 24 +9 30th 25th 1 8th 9 +8 10

International

Represented Finland at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt +/- SM
2011 Finland WHC 7th place 5 1 1 2 4th
2011 Finland EOWYF Silver medal 3 0 0 0 ± 0 0
2011 Finland Hlinka Memorial 4th Place 5 0 1 1 ± 0 0
2012 Finland U18 World Cup 4th Place 7th 0 1 1 +4 0
2014 Finland U20 World Cup gold medal 7th 0 1 1 ± 0 4th
2017 Finland WM 4th Place 10 2 0 2 -3 0
2018 Finland Olympia 6th place 1 0 0 0 -1 0
2019 Finland WM gold medal 10 1 6th 7th +5 0
Juniors overall 27 1 4th 5 8th
Men overall 21st 3 6th 9 +1 0

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

family

His younger brother Matias Lehtonen (* 1995) is also a professional ice hockey player.

Web links

Commons : Mikko Lehtonen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maple Leafs Sign Mikko Lehtonen. nhl.com, May 4, 2020, accessed on July 27, 2020 .
Squad of Jokerit in the 2020/21 season
personal data
SURNAME Lehtonen, Mikko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lehtonen, Mikko Kasper (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1994
PLACE OF BIRTH Turku , Finland