Career
A centreman, he was selected by the Blues in the third round, 65th overall, of the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Lehterä dominated the Jokerit junior team in scoring, and earned himself a place on the team"s Master of Science-liiga roster in the fall of 2006. He was selected to represent Finland at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships 2006 World Under-20"s Championships in Sweden, but could not play due to an injury.
In April 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Tappara.
Lehterä was drafted by the Saint Louis Blues at the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft in the third round, 65th overall. He made the move to North America for the 2008-2009 season to play for the Peoria Rivermen, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Blues.
However, he played just seven games for Peoria, recording just one assist, before returning to Tappara in Finland to close out the season, where he was ultimately named the Master of Science-liiga"s Most Valuable Player (Most Valuable Player) after scoring 19 goals and 50 assists for 69 points. After yearly consistent performances for Novosibirsk, he played for Finland at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where he scored one goal and three assists in four games for the bronze medal-winning Finns.
On 1 July 2014, Lehterä signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the Saint Louis Blues, the organization still retaining his National Hockey League rights after initially drafting him in 2008.
He was named the National Hockey League"s First Star of the Week for 10–17 November after posting four goals and two assists in just three games for Saint Louis.