Leevi Meriläinen

This Season So Far

The 2026-27 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.

Last Season

20 appearances, 8-10-1, a 3.51 goals-against average and a .860 save percentage with no shutouts. His career figure across 34 games is .8851.

Over his last 10 appearances, .843 on 204 shots.

The Physical Game

6-2, 196, and a technically tidy goaltender who looked, in a short run 2 seasons ago, like a genuine prospect. He is square and calm and does not fight the puck.

What went wrong last season is not visible in the style. He was beaten by shots he should have had, repeatedly, across 20 appearances.

The Mental Game

23 years old and handed a share of a starting job on a first-place defensive team, which is a great deal of responsibility for a third-round pick with 34 career games.

There is no evidence he handled it well and there is a fair argument he should not have been asked.

The Intangibles

This is the third page in this section saying the same thing. Ottawa conceded the fewest dangerous chances in the league and had the fourth-worst goaltending in it, and all 3 men were part of it: .8907, .8696 and .860, against a league median of .896.

He is 23. A season this poor at his age is recoverable and it has to be recovered somewhere with less at stake.

Ottawa is a very good hockey team with a hole in exactly one position, and it is the position that decides things.