Today’s entrant onto the list is the first with NHL experience. While it might not have been with the Lightning, Ylonen, also the oldest player on the list, has seen significant time with the Montreal Canadiens. Now he’ll look to add to that career total with the Lightning, a team that has already had a player with “Ylonen” across the back of a jersey.
| Name | Jesse Ylonen |
| Position | Right Wing |
| Age (as of October 1) | 24 |
| Height/Weight | 6’1″, 190 lbs. |
| Expected 2024-25 Team | Tampa Bay Lightning / Syracuse Crunch |
| Draft – Year, Round | 2018, Round 2 (#35 overall by Montreal) |
| Previous Rankings | #20 (2023), #12 (2022), #8 (2021), #13 (2020), #14 (2019), #13 (2018) |
| Writer’s Ranking | 22 |
| Reader’s Ranking | 15 |
| Final Rank | 18 |
Stats
Our Thoughts
After the Montreal Canadiens decided not to tender a contract to restricted free agent Jesse Ylonen, he became a free agent and the Lightning had the chance to sign him to a one-year, two-way contract. With the influx of young talent in Montreal over the past couple of seasons Ylonen, a second-round pick in 2018, got lost in the shuffle a bit despite a pretty impressive pedigree and collection of skills.
He is the son of Juha Ylonen, a six-year NHL veteran that had a 56-game stint with the Lightning in the 2001-02 season. The elder Ylonen recorded three goals and ten assists with the Bolts before he was traded to Ottawa for a sixth-round pick (the Lightning drafted Paul Ranger) and Andre Roy – a pretty solid deal for Tampa Bay.
Will Jesse make the Lightning to become the first father-son duo in franchise history? Yes. Will he record more points with the team than his dad did? That is a definite maybe. In 111 games over parts of four seasons with the Habs, Ylonen has 12 goals and 17 assists while spending most of the time on the fourth line. In AHL duty with the Laval Rocket over that time he has displayed a bit more of a scorer’s touch with 85 points (34 goals, 51 assists) in 120 games.
There is no doubt that Ylonen has the skills to be an effective middle-six forward at the NHL level. He has speed to burn. He forechecks well. He has the profile that Julien BriseBois has been adding to the team over the past two off-seasons as he looks to make the Lightning faster and tougher to play against.
Offensively, Ylonen is a decent player off of the cycle and probably should have more goals than he does in the NHL. He gets to the front of the net and generates solid chances. His passing is pretty good and his wrist shot is deft and accurate. He’s also 3-for-8 in the shootout, which is slightly above the league average. For some reason, he hasn’t been able to put it all together on a consistent enough basis to earn more than fourth-line playing time.
One of the reasons the Habs were comfortable with letting him go was that he did struggle a bit in his own end. His possession numbers from last year were all underwater despite the fact that he was on the ice for more goals scored than allowed. The soon-to-be 25-year-old could be in line for a change of system boost if he is willing to put the work in for Jon Cooper.
As a natural right winger, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get some looks with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel on the second line in the training camp, but if he is going to make the team out of training camp, it’s likely that it will be on the fourth line. If that ends up being the case, his ability to keep opponents hemmed in with a strong forecheck will be more important than putting the puck in the net.
If doesn’t make the Lightning out of training camp, there will be a little bit of a risk putting him on waivers, but he is likely to clear them and make it to Syracuse. There he’ll be a valuable addition to a forward group that needs help replacing some offense that has matriculated away from the Crunch. As the season progresses, he’ll be among the first line of call-ups for NHL duty in the event of an injury.
This was a fairly low-cost signing for the Bolts that has a potentially high upside. If Ylonen can put it all together at the NHL level, it’s not inconceivable that he could be a 10-15 goal scorer this season. The talent is there, the Lightning are hoping it all clicks into place.
Highlight Videos
Ylonen’s first career goal was a blast from distance. He generated a lot of power from a standstill and picked a corner on a pretty good goaltender.
This is a textbook 2-on-1. He skated hard to catch up with his teammate to present him with a secondary option. He had his stick on the ice when the pass came over and he didn’t try to tee it up for a perfect shot, he quickly shoveled it into the open net.
There is a lot to like in this sequence. It starts with the quick acceleration behind the Philly net as he blew by the stick check. After he dished the puck to the point, he headed to the front of the net and took a couple of hits before establishing his position. He found the puck first and flipped it home.
This is where speed helps a team out. Ylonen outskated the defense to deny an icing and then set up the goal by former Lightning forward Mitchell Stephens.
Sure, it might have been on his own goal, but this was still a pretty nice shot.
