If you’re not following along with the New Jersey Devils‘ American Hockey League affiliate, you may not know that Lenni Hämeenaho is breaking out at the minor level. In fact, he’s caught the attention of the NHL brass.
Speaking with Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald earlier this week, he explained Hämeenaho’s AHL impact very well could lead to an NHL recall.
“We’re very lucky, and we feel very fortunate [with Hämeenaho],” Fitzgerald said. “He’s a dip-your-toe-in-the-pool type of player. He’s got to get a little bit comfortable to feel better about his game. And we’ve actually talked about bringing him up, even just to practice with us so he’s comfortable here. So, it’s meritocracy. He’s playing well, and we want to give him an opportunity, but we want to make sure he feels very comfortable in a situation that we can get the best out of him at that time.”
Currently, the Devils are the healthiest they’ve been all season.
Knock on wood, but New Jersey is hoping it stays that way so they can push to get back into the playoff picture. However, it seems as if the Devils will recall Hämeenaho upon the first injury at forward.
It was a slow start for the Finnish forward in his first season playing in the AHL. Hämeenaho went pointless through his first nine games. However, since then, he’s broken out to lead the Utica Comets in both goals (nine) and points (21).
Before Hämeenaho’s breakout, New Jersey Hockey Now reached out to the Daily Sentinel, who are boots on the ground in Utica, for insight on Hämeenaho’s early scoreless streak.
“I think Hämeenaho is finding his way in the North American game a little bit,” Ben Birnell said. “Parent mentioned Hämeenaho is a solid, defensive-minded forward, including matching up against top lines for defensive purposes. As Parent has said, offense is going to take time.”
Now, Hämeenaho’s comfortability has only brought his offensive game to the surface.
The Devils certainly need some scoring punch. They rank 26th in the NHL with 2.62 goals for per game.
Fitzgerald explained he’d like to add a forward by the NHL trade deadline, hence the Dougie Hamilton trade speculation.
However, the Devils could perhaps find an internal solution in Hämeenaho, all nine of his goals in his last 23 games and is on pace for 20 by season’s end.
The Devils drafted the 21-year-old forward in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, 58th overall, New Jersey’s first pick of the draft that year.
Following his draft year, he continued his development in Finland, playing in Liiga for Ässät, often wearing the chrome bucket as the team’s leading scorer.
Hameenaho is a known two-way forward with offensive upside. He’s begun finding his comfortability level in North America on the scoring front and could soon play at the varsity level.
In an otherwise weak crop of forward prospects in New Jersey, Hämeenaho is solidifying himself as the top forward prospect and one with legitimate NHL upside.
