Leevi Meriläinen
Ottawa Senators Goaltender #1
A .860 in twenty games, behind the league's best defence.
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 64 | 3.51 | 0 | 457 | .860 |
| Career | 34 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 92 | 3.00 | 3 | 801 | .885 |
Last Season
Twenty 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 ten appearances, .843 on 204 shots.
The Physical Game
Six foot two, 196, and a technically tidy goaltender who looked, in a short run two 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 twenty appearances.
The Mental Game
Twenty-three 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 thirty-four 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 three 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.