Artturi Lehkonen’s two-way value puts Colorado’s offseason focus squarely on the “big-game” winger

The Colorado Avalanche have never been a team built around one obvious superstar the way some franchises are. In that kind of culture, the players who reliably change the shape of a playoff game can become the closest thing to a “must-keep.” Artturi Lehkonen is one of them, and the club’s offseason planning is now shaped by a simple problem: how to keep a proven performer available when the postseason stakes are highest.

Lehkonen’s reputation is not limited to one scoring trend or one series. Yahoo Sports’ profile ties his rise to elite timing and two-way responsibility, arguing that his value increases the deeper the games go. The piece frames him as Colorado’s defining clutch weapon, a player whose production has historically mattered not just because it shows up, but because it shows up at moments that force opponents to react.

According to the same report, Lehkonen signed a five-year contract worth $22.5 million in July 2022 and has one year remaining. That matters because it turns an “ideal world” roster preference into a calendar-driven decision. Colorado does not need more high-end talent in the abstract, it needs certainty about availability from a specific, proven profile at the top end of the lineup’s leverage points.

Colorado’s connection to that profile began in Montreal, where Lehkonen’s big moments helped make him a target. The report points to 2021, when Lehkonen scored in overtime to send the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final, an outcome that ultimately gave way to a six-game loss to Tampa Bay. It also notes that general manager Joe Sakic pursued Lehkonen for his ability to score meaningful goals in meaningful moments, a theme that Colorado has continued to lean on since the trade.

Colorado acquired Lehkonen at the 2022 trade deadline from the Canadiens for Justin Barron and a 2024 second-round pick, with Montreal retaining 50 percent of his salary. The trade gave the Avalanche exactly what teams covet before playoff runs: a forward who could contribute in tight games, not only through finishing, but through the supporting tasks that make elite matchups harder for opponents to navigate.

Once in Colorado, Lehkonen’s “big-time” resume grew. The report describes another overtime winner in the Western Conference Final that helped send the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup Final after they swept the Edmonton Oilers, then identifies the Cup-clinching goal in Game 6 as the defining finish of the run. It is a timeline Colorado can point to when evaluating risk, because the team is not betting on a reputation built from highlights. It is betting on repeatable behavior under pressure.

Lehkonen’s postscript also extends beyond North America. Yahoo Sports cites his performance at the Milano Cortina Olympics, where it says he scored the decisive goal in a 3-2 comeback win for Finland to advance the country to the semifinals. For a team building toward another season of playoff intensity, that kind of international context is often used internally to gauge composure when roles, rinks, and opponents change.

What to watch next is how Colorado weighs Lehkonen’s near-term durability against the roster choices that come with the final year of a contract. Because his impact is described as rising with the stakes, the Avalanche’s offseason priorities could reflect a preference for keeping their clutch two-way identity intact rather than taking on unnecessary volatility in the forward group.

The broader NHL lesson is that “must-keep” players are rarely the easiest to define on paper. Colorado’s approach suggests the organization believes it has found one of those rare fits, a winger whose value shows up in the game’s most decision-heavy minutes.

keyFacts