Former Blues Forward Jori Lehtera Considering Retirement
The short version
- Jori Lehtera announced on Instagram he is taking time away from hockey and considering retirement
- Lehtera played three NHL seasons with the St. Louis Blues after being drafted 65th overall in 2008
- He scored 44 points as a rookie in 2014-15 and later played two seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers
- He most recently played for HIFK in Finland's Liiga
Jori Lehtera, who played three seasons with St. Louis, says he is stepping away from hockey while weighing retirement in an Instagram post to HIFK fans.
Jori Lehtera, a former St. Louis Blues forward currently with HIFK of the Finnish Liiga, posted on Instagram this week that he is taking time away from hockey and considering retirement, though he has not made a final decision.
The Blues drafted Lehtera 65th overall in 2008 after a strong season with Tappara in Finland's Liiga. He spent time in the KHL with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Sibir Novosibirsk before signing with St. Louis ahead of the 2014-15 season.
Lehtera went straight to the NHL without an AHL stint and put up 14 goals and 44 points in 75 games as a 27-year-old rookie, though his age made him ineligible for the Calder Trophy. His production slipped to 34 points in 2015-16, a season in which he received some Selke Trophy votes, and he left the Blues after 2016-17.
He closed his NHL career with two seasons in Philadelphia, recording 11 points in 89 games along with a brief AHL stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Lehtera then returned to Europe, playing for SKA St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow in the KHL before finishing in Finland with Tappara and HIFK.
It remains unclear whether Lehtera will retire or eventually return to Finnish hockey after his time away.