Former St. Louis Blues forward Jori Lehtera took to Instagram earlier this week to address the fans of his current team, HIFK of the Finnish Liiga. In a heartfelt post, Lehtera stated that he’s going to take some time away from the game of hockey and although he’s considering retirement, he hasn’t fully made a decision just yet.
Lehtera’s Road to the NHL
The St. Louis Blues selected Lehtera with the 65th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. At the time, he was coming off an impressive season with Liiga’s Tappara and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him, despite being picked in the third round.
It would take Lehtera quite a while to finally come over to North America though, as he made a stop in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League first. He joined Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ahead of the 2010-11 season and moved to Sibir Novosibirsk in May of 2011, just months before the tragic plane crash that took the lives of almost the entire Lokomotiv team that September.
Lehtera then spent three seasons with Novosibirsk before finally signing with the Blues ahead of the 2014-15 season, more than half a decade after he was drafted in 2008.
Moving to the NHL
Lehtera joined the Blues for their 2014-15 campaign and made an immediate impact at the NHL level, spending no time with their AHL affiliate before making his debut. That season, he scored 14 goals and had a total of 44 points in 75 games. Despite officially being a rookie, he was ineligible for the Calder Trophy due to his age, as he was 27 years old at the time.
The following season, Lehtera’s offensive production dipped, but he did earn some recognition for the defensive side of his game. He finished the 2015-16 season with just nine goals, a new career-low, and just 34 points in 79 games. The then 28-year-old center did earn some votes for the Selke Trophy that season, although not many.
After an even less productive campaign in the 2016-17 season, Lehtera departed the Blues organization and joined the Philadelphia Flyers for the final two seasons of his NHL career. During that time, he had just 11 points in the City of Brotherly Love despite playing 89 games for the historic franchise. He was even sent down to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at one stage, where he had three points in five games.
Returning to Europe
After his disappointing stint in Philadelphia, Lehtera opted to return to Europe rather than battle it out in the North American minor league system. He returned to the KHL for the 2019-20 season, this time signing with SKA St. Petersburg. He left SKA after just one season, joining Spartak Moscow for the next two seasons.
Following his time in Moscow, Lehtera returned to his native Finland. He returned to his former club Tappara for one season before joining HIFK, where he spent the rest of his career to date.
While Lehtera’s future remains uncertain, as he may opt to fully retire or he may return to the ranks of Finnish hockey after some time away, he certainly had an impressive run.
Former Blues Forward Announces Potential Retirement