Joni Ikonen raised eyebrows when he chose to hit the big leagues instead of sticking with the Frölunda HC organization after his draft. The Montreal Canadiens selected the highly skilled forward in the second round of the 2017 draft after solid season putting up 41 points in 40 games with the J20 squad. Ikonen also played ten games for the main club, but there was no guarantee he would make it there on a full-time basis and instead chose to play for KalPa in Liiga instead.
It was a challenging debut year for Ikonen as he had to continue to work up to the increased pace.