Jori Lehterä

Jori Jonatan Lehterä (born 23 December 1987) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a centre for HIFK of the Liiga. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the third round, 65th overall, of the 2008 NHL entry draft. He won a bronze medal with Finland at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Playing career Lehterä dominated the Jokerit junior team in scoring, and earned himself a place on the team's SM-liiga roster in the fall of 2006. He was selected to represent Finland at the 2006 World Junior Championships, but could not play due to an injury. In April 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Tappara.

Lehterä was drafted by the St. Louis Blues at the 2008 NHL entry draft in the third round, 65th overall. He made the move to North America for the 2008–09 season to play for the Peoria Rivermen, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Blues. However, he played just seven games for Peoria, recording just one assist, before returning to Tappara in Finland to close out the season, where he was ultimately named the SM-liiga's most valuable player (MVP) after scoring 19 goals and 50 assists for 69 points.

After playing one season with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Lehterä moved to KHL rivals Sibir Novosibirsk from 2011–12 to 2013–14, the latter of which he scored 12 goals and 32 assists to lead the team in points, with 44. After yearly consistent performances for Novosibirsk, he played for Finland at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he recorded one goal and three assists in four games for the bronze medal-winning Finland team.

On 1 July 2014, Lehterä signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the St. Louis Blues, the organization still retaining his NHL rights after initially drafting him in 2008. He was named the NHL's First Star of the Week for 10–17 November after posting four goals and two assists in three games for St. Louis.

He was traded by the Blues along with a 2017 first-round pick and a conditional 2018 first-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Brayden Schenn, at the 2017 draft on June 23, 2017.

Lehterä signed a one-year contract with the KHL's SKA Saint Petersburg on 6 June 2019. In the 2019–20 season, he posted 15 goals and 30 points in his return to the KHL before the season was abruptly ended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As a free agent at the conclusion of his contract, Lehterä opted to continue in the KHL, agreeing to a one-year deal with Spartak Moscow on 12 May 2020.

On 16 June 2022, Lehterä returned to play in Finnish Liiga for the first time in 12 years, agreeing to a one-year contract with former club and reigning champions, Tappara.

Personal life Lehterä's uncle, Tero Lehterä, was a member of Finland's team what won gold medals in the 1995 World Championships.

In September 2018, Finland's police announced that they had conducted a raid on Lehterä's home, resulting in several arrests and the seizure of cocaine. Lehterä was not home at the time, but police believed that he was involved in a distribution ring with about 20 other people. On 1 January 2019, it was reported that Lehterä was not involved in the distribution part of the ring; just purchasing and possessing.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2003–04 Jokerit FIN U18 19 0 6 6 2 5 3 1 4 0 2004–05 Jokerit FIN U18 30 13 37 50 24 7 6 5 11 2 2005–06 Jokerit FIN U20 39 14 33 47 16 4 1 4 5 0 2006–07 Jokerit FIN U20 24 18 48 66 20 5 1 7 8 2 2006–07 Jokerit SM-l 28 6 6 12 14 — — — — — 2007–08 Tappara SM-l 54 13 29 42 32 11 4 2 6 8 2008–09 Tappara SM-l 58 9 38 47 34 — — — — — 2008–09 Peoria Rivermen AHL 7 0 1 1 2 7 1 1 2 10 2009–10 Tappara SM-l 57 19 50 69 58 9 1 9 10 8 2010–11 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 53 16 21 37 38 18 0 3 3 14 2011–12 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 25 10 16 26 10 — — — — — 2012–13 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 52 17 29 46 46 3 0 2 2 0 2013–14 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 48 12 32 44 22 10 0 6 6 2 2014–15 St. Louis Blues NHL 75 14 30 44 48 5 0 2 2 0 2015–16 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 9 25 34 38 20 3 6 9 10 2016–17 St. Louis Blues NHL 64 7 15 22 34 8 1 3 4 4 2017–18 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 62 3 5 8 14 6 0 2 2 0 2018–19 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 27 1 2 3 33 — — — — — 2018–19 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 5 1 2 3 4 — — — — — 2019–20 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 51 15 15 30 26 — — — — — 2020–21 Spartak Moscow KHL 41 9 35 44 17 4 0 2 2 6 2021–22 Spartak Moscow KHL 45 10 29 39 21 5 1 1 2 0 2022–23 Tappara Liiga 57 11 46 57 45 13 5 11 16 6 2023–24 HIFK Liiga 57 6 50 56 36 7 1 3 4 4 2024–25 HIFK Liiga 51 7 52 59 14 4 0 0 0 2 Liiga totals 362 71 271 342 233 48 15 31 46 32 KHL totals 315 89 177 266 180 40 1 14 15 22 NHL totals 307 34 77 111 167 39 4 13 17 14

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2010 Finland WC 6th 5 0 0 0 0 2014 Finland OG 6 1 3 4 0 2014 FinlandWC 10 3 9 12 10 2016 Finland WCH 8th 3 0 0 0 2 Senior totals 24 4 12 16 12

Awards and honours Award Year RefChampions Hockey League Champion 2022–23 Liiga Kanada-malja champion 2022–23 Kultainen kypärä 2010 Lasse Oksanen trophy 2010 Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy 2010 KHL All-Star Game 2013, 2014