This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Leevi Meriläinen
Ottawa Senators Goaltender
A .9254 with three shutouts in twelve games at 22, which is the most interesting twelve games on this roster.
| Season | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | OTT | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4.23 | 0 | 49 | .878 |
| 2024-25 | OTT | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 1.99 | 3 | 295 | .925 |
| 2025-26 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 2.25 | 3 | 344 | .919 |
This Season So Far
The 2025-26 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
8-3-1 in 12 games with a .9254, a 1.99 average and 3 shutouts, facing 295 shots.
Three shutouts in twelve appearances is a striking line and twelve appearances is not a season. What it does say is that the club could put him in and win, which on a roster that needed every point it got is not nothing.
The Physical Game
6-2 and 196 and the technique is tidy rather than imposing. He plays at the top of the crease and challenges the shooter, which is the opposite of the man in front of him on the depth chart.
He is quick post to post and the recovery on a second chance is the best thing about him. He finds the puck through a screen well for a goaltender this inexperienced. The puck-handling is the weakest part and he does not start a breakout with it.
The Mental Game
Twelve NHL games and he did not look out of place in any of them, which at 22 on a club in a playoff race is the whole test.
Nothing about a twelve-game sample proves anything and everything about it is encouraging. The club won eight of them.
The Intangibles
A third-round pick in 2020, drafted 71st overall out of Finland, and 14 NHL games in across two seasons.
He is 23 and the club has a starter signed long, which means the next step is either 25 starts as the backup or a full American League season. Both are defensible.