Add another pair of Colorado Avalanche players that are headed to the 2026 Olympics. The roster for Team Finland was revealed Friday morning, with Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta being named to the team.
Lehkonen has been a staple on the Avalanche’s top line alongside Nathan MacKinnon. He teams up extremely well with the Avs’ best player, having recorded 14 goals and 18 assists through just 39 games so far into the year. He is on pace for 29 goals and 37 assists this season. All of those stats would be a career high for the 30 year old Lehkonen.
Meanwhile, Kiviranta is quite a nice surprise to see on the roster. The soon-to-be 30 year old went undrafted but caught on with the Dallas Stars for the first four seasons of his career (2019-20 to 2022-23) before signing with the Colorado Avalanche in free agency in November of 2023.
He even earned a one-year deal with the team as they had to make a decision on him.
Kiviranta played 163 games with the Stars and recorded just 16 goals and 12 assists in that time. When he got to Colorado, he played in 56 games during his first season, having just three goals and six assists. However, Fast forward to the 2024-25 season and you’ll notice that his production drastically improved. He more than doubled his goal production with 16 and had seven assists in 79 games. That’s the moment he became known by so many more people across the NHL and its fanbase, especially the Avalanche’s.
To get the nod to go to the Olympics representing your country is a huge honour and one that no player should take for granted. While Lehkonen was an expected addition to the team, Kiviranta was not. It just goes to show the hard work that he has put in, being an undrafted player and working his way up to making a difference for his team.
Congratulations to Lehky and Kivi.