On Tuesday it was announced that Philadephia Flyers Jori Lehtera will be prosecuted as part of a cocaine ring that began last January. In September Lehtera was announced as one of the suspects. Though he isn’t one of the main suspects in the case, he is a suspect nonetheless. More details on the earlier reports can be found here.
Jori Lehtera Prosecuted
The trial for the case is set to begin on December 31st and Lehtera is scheduled to appear in court in January. It’s unclear if the case will force him to miss any games. The NHLPA and the Flyers haven’t commented on the situation. Seeing that Lehtera isn’t a primary suspect it’s unlikely he will face discipline from the league. He is one of 22 people accused in the case. According to a Finnish MTV site Lehtera has denied any accusations of his involvement in the cocaine ring.
So far this season, Lehtera has a goal and two assists for three points to go along with his 16 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 47.7 % Corsi and a relative Corsi of -3.5 %. He has been held off the scoresheet during his past eight games as a healthy scratch.
He’s spent the majority of his career playing overseas with his best years between the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons when he put up 30 goals in each season. Lehtera spent the last five seasons in the NHL. In his first year in the league with the St.Louis Blues, in which he put up 14 goals and 30 assists for 44 points in 75 games. Since that season his numbers have been on the decline. The result is Lehtera failing to reach the double-digit goal total since his rookie season. He was traded to the Flyers in June 2017 in exchange for a pick and Brayden Schenn.
Lehtera will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
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