Jori Lehtera was supposed to be the piece the Blues could use to complement the amazing skill of Vladimir Tarasenko. That hasn’t been the case.
[link_box id=”22277″ site_id=”17″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]Signed in 2014, Lehtera showed some real promise in his first season in the NHL, scoring 14 goals and 30 assists in 75 games. Though his numbers slipped in 2015-16 (nine goals, 25 assists in 79 games), the Blues renewed their commitment by awarding him a new three-year, $14.1 million contract which carries an average cap hit of $4.7 million.
With Lehtera continuing to slump, the Blues are realizing his lack of production is becoming a huge liability.
Hitch on Lehtera: "We're going to need more from him. The position we have him in, we need more from that position." #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) December 2, 2016
Through 20 games this season, Lehtera has three goals and four assists. That’s an incredibly disappointing total considering he has been skating next to Tarasenko for the majority of the year and represents a fairly large cap hit.
Lehtera has received praise for his skills in the faceoff circle, but he is winning just 53% this season and his career mark in the NHL is just 51%. That’s not a bad rate, but it doesn’t deserve any special praise and it definitely doesn’t make up for his lack of offense.
Jeremy Rutherford commented on the situation and sums things up nicely, via STLToday:
“I don’t know where this is going, but as I said from the start, Lehtera has already shown us that he has the talent to be a better player. Hitch and the coaches have to find it, and Lehtera has to work harder than he is.”
The Blues have already reduced Lehtera’s ice time (he played 11:21 compared to Tarasenko’s 18:50 against Tampa Bay on Thursday), but they need to continue to test out Lehtera with new faces until he finds his form from a couple years back.
Lehtera demonstrated in his rookie season that he can compete in the NHL. Unless those skills vaporized, the Blues have to have hope he’ll eventually find his game. The Blues may have been unwise to give him such a large contract after proving relatively little, but that’s the mess they are in. If Lehtera doesn’t improve and in a hurry, he’ll represent one of the worst contracts in the NHL.
