Of all the accomplishments by Colorado Avalanche players so far this season, finding the perfect nickname for Artturi Lehkonen is near the top of the list.
The Avs were in the middle of a team meeting, either in the last days of November or shortly after the calendar flipped to December. There was a video clip of a forward going to the net — not to score a goal, but to draw coverage away from a teammate to open up a play the Avs wanted to make.
That player who did the selfless thing? That was Lehkonen. And a nickname was born.
“Someone called him ‘the sacrificial lamb’ and I just call him that now,” Avs goalie Mackenzie Blackwood said a few weeks after the meeting. “It’s just fitting for his role.”
Calling Lehkonen one of the most underrated players in the NHL is passé at this point. Everyone who pays attention knows that Lehkonen is an excellent, all-around player and an integral part of the Avalanche machine.
He’ll be the same for Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Lehkonen won’t be in NBC’s promotional graphic when Finland and Sweden play Feb. 13 in the biggest game of the round-robin format at the event. But he will be a huge part of the Finns, the perennial underdog that so often punches above its weight.
“You always want to represent your country. It means a lot for sure,” Lehkonen said. “I think we’ve got a really good team, but we know it’s a short tournament. Anything can happen. I think we’ve got a really, really good shot.”
There are hockey players who don’t like to talk about themselves, and then there is Lehkonen. He’s often a man of few words, at least in English and at least around reporters. But those closer to him get to see his sense of humor, his enjoyment of Marvel and Harry Potter movies and the other things that make him a beloved teammate.
They are also more than willing to gush about Lehkonen. He’s probably your favorite hockey player’s favorite hockey player.
Here’s just a sampling of Avs players talking about why they love Lehkonen:
Nathan MacKinnon: “He just does everything correct. Routes are a big part of hockey. Predictability as a linemate is important, and he definitely brings those two things. He’s got a great attitude. He’s selfless and just a very competitive guy as well. He’s very, very competitive. Quiet, obviously, but a great sense of humor, and just a warrior for us.”
Brock Nelson: “If you know the game, you appreciate the ins and outs, the intricacies of his game. It’s all the little plays, the battles. He does a little bit of everything. He impacts the game in every way. It’s just the way he goes about it. Just a quiet guy, humble, goes out there, works extremely hard and gets the job done. He’s an easy guy to root for.”
Cale Makar: “It’s his compete level. It’s on another level and it’s completely unmatched. He’s kind of a Swiss Army knife. You can put in any scenario and he’ll do his best, never any questions asked. He’ll always do what’s best for the team. He’s also an unreal guy and unreal teammate.”
Blackwood: “Because he does all the (expletive) nobody wants to do. Every day, he does all the (expletive) everybody dreads doing — going in the corners, going to the net front, getting crosschecked, taking hits to make little plays. Nobody wants to freaking do that (expletive) all the time, and he does it every day. So that’s why everybody loves Artturi.”
Moritz Seider (53) of the Detroit Red Wings checks Artturi Lehkonen (62) of the Colorado Avalanche during the third period of the Red Wings’ 2-0 win at Ball Arena on Tuesday, February 2, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
‘He’s a junkyard dog’
Lehkonen is listed at 5-foot-11 and 179 pounds. Put him next to Nelson or Valeri Nichushkin, and his teammates tower over him. Those two look like hockey players who were built in a lab.
Nichushkin does a lot of the same things that Lehkonen does, the stuff Blackwood said others don’t want to do. But he’s 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. How Lehkonen absorbs the punishment and still finds ways to make the plays he does is remarkable.
“He’s a junkyard dog,” Blackwood said. “You don’t always have to be the biggest guy if you have the mind for it. That’s something you can’t teach people. They either have the mind for it or they don’t.”
Lehkonen is the son of a coach, and his brain is his superpower. That helps him find an edge in so many ways.
It’s the way he processes what is happening on the ice. It’s how he’s crafted a playing style that has helped him steadily increase his role over the course of his career to where he now often plays next to one of the two best players in the world on the first line of the NHL’s top team.
“I think he’s figured out that’s how he’s going to make a living and stay in this league a long time,” MacKinnon said. “He just competes his ass off every night. I think that’s why you see a lot of guys come and go where they just don’t have that fire to compete. They just can’t do it every night for six, seven months. That’s what he brings.”
While other players will mesmerize with speed, power, or effortless grace on a pair of skates, there is lots of craft in Lehkonen’s game. He reads the play and where the puck is going before the defenseman trying to mark him does.
He sees the open patch of ice for MacKinnon to find him. He anticipates where the puck is going next while on the penalty kill.
Even in the high-traffic areas, Lehkonen finds a way.
“He’s so smart with his stick,” Nelson said. “I feel like you can’t really tie up his stick. He’s always in a good spot where he knows he can keep his stick free and open. I think the timing is a big part of it. He just has all of it pieced together. He can find his certain spots, get there and I’m sure he takes a beating but he stands in there and always has a chance. He knows all the right angles and how to get himself open.”
There’s an obvious selflessness with Lehkonen that endears him to teammates and fans alike. But it’s not just work ethic or courage. There is loads of talent in there as well, even if it isn’t always the type of stuff that pops off in a highlight package.
“Art just has this way of like, getting in the way,” Avs defenseman Josh Manson said. “When he’s around the net, he’s getting in the way and winning puck touches. I think that’s one of his most unbelievable qualities is the way he wins puck touches in every zone, keeping pucks alive. It’s a real skill to just always be in the way, tangling guys up.
“Just think of his line. Nate is going to beat guys one-on-one. So that turns it into a two-on-one, but instead, there is Art tangled up with the guy, and he can’t get over to play Nate and now it’s one-on-one with the goalie. He created that for Nate.”
Those are the moments that don’t show up in a box score or on a highlight reel. Lehkonen does plenty of that as well.
He scored 27 goals last season, which was a career high. He’s on pace for 28 this year, and with 42 points already, his personal best (51) will be second best after this season.
His two goals Wednesday night in the final Avs game before the Olympic break were a perfect summation of his impact. Lehkonen scored the first while behind the goalie, down on his knees in the blue paint during a chaotic scrum of bodies.
The second one began as a 3-on-2 break for the Avs, but Lehkonen was behind the play. His teammates didn’t convert, and four San Jose Sharks were able to get back into a defensive position.
They probably thought things were under control, until Lehkonen snuck into the play behind them as a trailer, and found the perfect spot for MacKinnon to find him for a one-timer.
“He’s not going to be necessarily carrying the puck around all night, but he’s going to be the best forechecker, best backchecker, great penalty killer,” MacKinnon said. “He’s got great goal-scoring instincts as well. He does everything like, pretty good or really good, you know? He has no weaknesses.
“He told us that a coach in Montreal told him he’ll never score 20 goals in this league, and he almost had 30 last year. That was great.”
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