The Colorado Avalanche announced on social media that forward Artturi Lehkonen left Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings with an upper-body injury and would not return.
Artturi Lehkonen (upper body) will not return to the game.
Lehkonen finished the night with one shot on goal in just 3:21 of ice time. It’s not clear how the Avalanche forward suffered the injury, but at one point during the first period he went to the dressing room with a team trainer and did not return.
In 59 games this season, the Finnish winger has 19 goals and 23 assists for 42 points, averaging just under 19 minutes per game. Now in his 10th NHL season, the 30-year-old has 163 goals and 167 assists for 330 points in 649 regular-season games with the Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens.
Last season, he scored a career-high 27 goals, while in 2022-23, he recorded a career-high 51 points.
Lehkonen also has 26 goals and 21 assists for 47 points in 78 career playoff games, and helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup in 2022. He was also part of the Canadiens’ 2021 Cup Final run, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
Lehkonen, taken in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Canadiens, spent several seasons in Europe before making the jump into the NHL. In 2015-16, his final season with Frolunda HC in Sweden’s top domestic league, he recorded 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 49 regular-season games, then posted 11 goals and 19 points in 16 playoff games, helping the club win a league championship.
Internationally, Lehkonen has represented his native Finland on several occasions, including three appearances at the World Junior Championships, winning the gold medal in 2014. He also helped Finland earn a bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
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