Leevi Meriläinen

Leevi Meriläinen was born in Oulu, Finland on August 13, 2002 — the same city as Oulun Kärpät, the Liiga club where he developed before crossing the Atlantic to pursue a career in North American hockey. The Ottawa Senators selected him 71st overall, in the third round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, when he was still a teenager with experience in one of Europe's top domestic leagues.

Before arriving in the NHL, Meriläinen played major junior hockey with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. He made his North American professional debut with Ottawa in April 2023, then worked his way into a more sustained role with the Senators organization over the following seasons.

His first full run of NHL action came in 2025-26, when Meriläinen appeared in 20 games for Ottawa, going 8-10 with a 3.51 goals-against average and a .860 save percentage. He did not record a shutout that season.

Prior to that, his career totals through the end of 2024-25 show the arc of a goaltender accumulating NHL experience across a relatively compact span of games. Heading into 2026-27, Meriläinen had appeared in 38 NHL games, posting a record of 17-14-3, a 2.93 career goals-against average, a .889 career save percentage, and 3 shutouts over 2,007 minutes and 47 seconds of ice time.

Meriläinen entered the 2026-27 season with a new organization, having moved to the Vancouver Canucks. In four appearances through the early portion of that campaign, he went 1-0, carrying a 2.18 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage over 165 minutes and 14 seconds of ice time. He wears number 1 for Vancouver. The left-catching Finn stands 6'2" and weighs 196 pounds.