Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens Top 5: Best Finnish Players In Team History
Now that the Montreal Canadiens have acquired Finnish forward Patrik Laine, we can take a look back at some of the best players hailing from Finland who ended up playing for the organization.
In the storied history of the Canadiens, only 16 Finns have graced the roster, including Laine. That number also includes two players who dressed for just one game. In other words, Laine not only represents a player who could potentially improve the team’s offensive impact significantly, he could also end up changing the narrative in Montreal when it comes to the success of Nordic players.
No.5 – Jesperi Kotkaniemi
We kick things off with a player who was originally projected as a core member of the team, but ultimately left the franchise after a rather public divorce with former general manager Marc Bergevin.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, picked third overall in 2018, will go down as one of the greatest ‘what if’s’ in recent Montreal Canadiens history. For one thing, he was taken right before current Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, and despite having an above average frame, he never ascended to the top-line centre position.
His rookie campaign started off a bit slow, as Kotkaniemi scored his first career goal in the 12th game of the season. He eventually found his rhythm, finishing the season with 11 goals and 34 points in 79 games, good for seventh in team points. In his sophomore season he was plagued by several injuries that limited him to 36 games, recording only six goals and two assists. Upon returning to play from his injury, Kotkaniemi was loaned to the Laval Rocket for a conditioning stint. In 13 AHL games, he scored once and had 12 helpers.
He was scratched for a couple of games in the 2021 playoffs, which indicated his standing with the team was quickly getting worse. The following offseason, the Carolina Hurricanes convinced Kotkaniemi to sign a very rich one-year offer sheet which carried a $6.1 annual average value. The Canadiens opted not to match the offer, thus ending his career in Montreal prematurely.
Things were looking up once he joined the Hurricanes, but the fun did not last, as Kotkaniemi finished the 2024 playoffs as a fourth-line winger. In total, the former member of the Montreal Canadiens has scored 42 goals and 57 assists in 227 games with the Hurricanes.
ON TOPIC: Canadiens Lessons Learned From The Jesperi Kotkaniemi Saga
No.4 Joel Armia
Following Armia’s last season in junior, he helped Assat Pori win a championship in 2012-13, before making the jump to North America. A strong start to the 2015-16 season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose led to a promotion to the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets, where he quickly became a mainstay in the lineup. It’s worth noting he played two seasons with Laine in that time frame.
He was traded to the Canadiens in the summer of 2018, in exchange for goaltender Steve Mason. Mason never took to the ice for the Habs, but Armia did, using his six-foot-four frame to make an immediate impact. He has played 325 games for the Canadiens, resulting in 66 goals and 54 assists. He had five goals and eight points in the 2021 playoffs, including a pair of two-goal games; game five versus the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, and game three versus Winnipeg in the second round.
Last season he even spent sometime with the AHL Laval Rocket, a very difficult situation for any veteran. Regardless, Armia took it like a professional, providing an important veteran presence for the team’s minor league affiliate, as evidenced by the fact that he had six goals and three assists in just eight games. He will never win an Art Ross Trophy, but he has certainly provided important offence when called upon, and has become a hard-working player in the lineup.
No.3 Patrik Laine
The Canadiens’ lack of Finns certainly comes to the forefront when a player who is yet to suite up for the team cracks the top three. However, given his skill set, Patrik Laine’s place on the list is certainly justifiable.
Laine was one of the most heavily touted prospects in his draft year, going second overall to the Winnipeg Jets in 2016. The six-foot-five winger was coming off a season in which he helped his junior squad, Tappara Tampere, win the league championship. He also helped Finland win gold at the World Juniors in 2016, with seven goals and six assists in just seven games.
In his first full season with Winnipeg, the 18-year-old led the team in goals (36) and finished third in points (64), as an 18-year-old freshman. He scored in his NHL debut, and became the youngest non-North American to score at least two goals in a game – a record that has since been beaten by Kotkaniemi. The following year he upped his goal total to 44, finishing second to Alexander Ovechkin’s 49 goals, which secured the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s best goalscorer that season. Laine also became only the 45th player in NHL history to record five goals in an NHL game, when he accomplished the feat on November 24, 2018.
Laine has played the past four seasons as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets while dealing with serious health issues, which eventually led to him entering the NHL/NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program. Despite the difficult situation, he produced 117 points in his last 129 games, meaning he maintained first-line production during his difficult stretch.
With 204 goals and 184 assists in 480 career games, Habs fans are hoping Laine will rekindle the scoring touch that saw him earn an impressive 10 hat tricks before he turned 26 years old.
No.2 Artturi Lehkonen
Lehkonen, drafted 55th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, came to Montreal following a record-setting performance in the playoffs for Frolunda (SHL), which saw him score 11 goals and 8 assists in 16 games as he helped them secure a league championship.
Known for his stalwart approach, Lehkonen was mostly tasked with a defensive role, however, his offensive impact and his penchant for scoring important goals should not be ignored.
His biggest moment with the Canadiens came during the impressive playoff run in 2021, when he secured the team’s Stanley Cup final berth by scoring an overtime goal at the Bell Centre, sending local fans into a frenzy. What’s more, the goal coincided with La Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the most important holiday in the province. Thousands upon thousands of fans converged on the Bell Centre to take part in the festivities, not to mention create new memories with their friends and loved ones.
No.1 – Saku Koivu
Koivu being ranked as the top Finn should not come as a surprise, seeing as he was one of the most productive players in the organization. The 21st overall pick of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft ended up playing 792 games for the Habs, earning 191 goals and 450 assists in the process, good enough for the 10th spot on the team’s all-time scoring leaders list. With 255 goals and 577 assists in 1124 career games, Koivu also ranks as one of the best Finnish players in league history.
He was the first European-born player to serve as the team’s captain, wearing the ‘C’ for 10 of the 14 years in which he played in Montreal, tying team legend Jean Beliveau’s record for the longest tenured captaincy in franchise history.
Tragedy struck in 2001-02, when Koivu was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The cancer diagnosis kept him out of the lineup for the bulk of the season, which was to be expected, but Koivu returned to the lineup in the final games of the year, becoming the hockey embodiment of the Finnish concept of ‘Sisu‘. Koivu was met with a raucous eight-minute standing ovation from the Molson Centre faithful, a heartwarming and cherished memory for Canadiens fans new and old.
Fittingly, Koivu was the recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy that season, an accolade given to players who best exemplify the qualifies of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Though he would eventually head to the Anaheim Ducks, joining fellow Finn Teemu Selanne, it was not the end of the Koivu lineage in Montreal, as his son, Aatos, was picked by the Canadiens in the third round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.