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Otto Leskinen

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Otto Leskinen
Born (1997-02-06) 6 February 1997 (age 27)
Pieksämäki, Finland
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
Liiga team
Former teams		 Tappara
KalPa
Montreal Canadiens
Jokerit
National team  Finland
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2015–present

Otto Leskinen (born 6 February 1997) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player for Tappara of the Liiga. Leskinen has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Playing career

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Leading up to the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Leskinen was ranked 114th overall International Skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.[1] While he went undrafted in North America, Leskinen signed a three-year contract extension with KalPa on 29 April 2015.[2] He signed a two-year extension with KalPa on 21 November 2017.[3]

In June 2018, Leskinen was invited to attend the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) training camp.[4] In December 2018, Leskinen helped lead Kalpa to their first Spengler Cup Championship.[5] He recorded one point during the tournament, an assist off captain Tommi Jokinen's goal in the semi-finals.[6]

Leskinen had a breakout season in the final year of his contract. He recorded a career-high 31 points, 23 assists, and 8 goals in 57 games during the 2018–19 season. As a result, Leskinen signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens in May 2019.[7] He was invited to their annual development camp in June that year[8] and competed in their pre-season games.[9] He made his NHL debut in a 3–2 defeat against the Colorado Avalanche on 5 December 2019.[10] After playing five games for the Canadiens, Leskinen returned to the Laval Rocket for the remainder of the season.

On 4 August 2020, Leskinen was returned by the Canadiens on loan to former club, KalPa of the Liiga, to begin the 2020–21 season due to the delayed North American season as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

As a free agent from the Canadiens organization, Leskinen was signed by Finnish outfit, Jokerit of the KHL, agreeing to a two-year contract on 15 June 2021.[12] After splitting time between the foregoing and Tappara of Liiga, Leskinen returned to the Canadiens organization via a one-year, two-way contract signed on 14 June 2022.[13]

Following the 2022–23 season within the Canadiens organization, Leskinen left the organization as a pending free agent and returned to his former club, Tappara of the Liiga, on a two-year contract on 10 May 2023.[14]

International play

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Leskinen competed with the U18 Team Finland squad at the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships, where he won a silver medal.[15]

Leskinen was selected to try out for Team Finland ahead of the 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, but failed to make the final cut.[16] In February 2019, Leskinen was selected to compete for Team Finland in the Euro Hockey Tour.[17] He was later invited to tryout for Team Finland's World Championship team.[18]

Player profile

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“Leskinen’s biggest strength is his skating, playmaking, and his ability to join the offence as a defenceman.”

– KalPa skating coach Marko Tuomainen on the Canadiens signing Leskinen.[19]

Described as a smooth-skating, offensive defenceman, Leskinen was praised for his ability to help on a power play.[20]

Personal life

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He graduated from Vocational and Adult College of Savonia.[21]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 KalPa Jr. A 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2014–15 KalPa Jr. A 44 5 21 26 40 — — — — —
2015–16 KalPa Jr. A 28 6 25 31 39 9 2 4 6 6
2015–16 KalPa Liiga 19 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2016–17 KalPa Liiga 50 2 8 10 10 14 1 0 1 2
2016–17 KalPa Jr. A 2 0 2 2 2 3 1 1 2 0
2016–17 Iisalmen Peli-Karhut Mestis 5 1 2 3 2 — — — — —
2017–18 KalPa Liiga 52 1 12 13 20 6 0 1 1 0
2017–18 KalPa Jr. A — — — — — 4 0 5 5 0
2018–19 KalPa Liiga 57 8 23 31 34 — — — — —
2019–20 Laval Rocket AHL 52 2 20 22 57 — — — — —
2019–20 Montreal Canadiens NHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2020–21 KalPa Liiga 17 4 6 10 10 — — — — —
2020–21 Laval Rocket AHL 33 1 16 17 12 — — — — —
2020–21 Montreal Canadiens NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2021–22 Jokerit KHL 35 4 11 15 8 — — — — —
2021–22 Tappara Liiga 10 4 4 8 2 15 4 6 10 0
2022–23 Laval Rocket AHL 24 1 7 8 22 — — — — —
Liiga totals 205 19 54 73 78 35 5 7 12 2
NHL totals 6 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
KHL totals 35 4 11 15 8 — — — — —

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2015 Finland U18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 0 0 0 4
Junior totals 7 0 0 0 4

Awards and honours

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Award Year
Liiga
Kanada-malja champion 2022 [22]

References

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  1. ^ "2015 NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings: International Skaters". nhl.com. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  2. ^ "U18 MM-hopeajoukkueen ykköskentän puolustajalle pitkä sopimus". kalpa.fi (in Finnish). 29 April 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  3. ^ "KalPa solmi kolme tärkeää jatkosopimusta". kalpa.fi (in Finnish). 21 November 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Canadiens will hold Development Camp from June 28 to July 1 in Brossard". nhl.com. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Canada drops shootout against KalPa Kuopio in Spengler Cup final". sportsnet.ca. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  6. ^ "TOMMI JOKINEN SHOOTS KALPA KUOPIO INTO THE SEMI-FINALS". spenglercup.ch. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms with defenseman Otto Leskinen". NHL.com. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Canadiens will hold their annual development camp from June 26–28". nhl.com. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  9. ^ Braverman, Dan (17 September 2019). "Twenty-two players to travel to New Brunswick for Kraft Hockeyville". nhl.com. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  10. ^ Cowan, Stu (2019-12-06). "Canadiens Game Day: Habs lose game and Jesperi Kotkaniemi". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  11. ^ "Otto Leskinen loaned to KalPa". Montreal Canadiens. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Kalle Kossila and Otto Leskinen in a Jokerit jersey" (in Finnish). Jokerit. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Canadiens agree to a one-year contract with Otto Leskinen". NHL.com. June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  14. ^ "Tappara announce roster transactions" (in Finnish). Tappara. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Otto Leskinen". hockeycanada.ca. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  16. ^ "Finland finalizes roster for World Juniors". nhl.com. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Luostarinen ja Leskinen A-maajoukkueen mukana Ruotsin EHT-turnauksessa". kalpa.fi (in Finnish). 4 February 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Leskinen ja Luostarinen mukaan MM-leiritykseen". kalpa.fi (in Finnish). 4 March 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  19. ^ Bexell, Patrik (7 May 2019). "'His play in the offensive zone was his big asset': A closer look at Otto Leskinen". habseyesontheprize.com. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  20. ^ Cudzinowski, Matt (8 May 2019). "Ikonen: Leskinen 'lethal' on the power play". nhl.com. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  21. ^ "KalPan A-nuorille nuorten SM-liigan pronssia, Onnea!". sakky.fi (in Finnish). 5 April 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Finnish championship goes to Tappara". International Ice Hockey Federation. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
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