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Photo of Leevi Meriläinen

Leevi Meriläinen

#31 · Goalie · Vancouver Canucks

Born Aug 13, 2002 in Oulu, FIN (age 24) · 6'3", 186 lb · Catches left · Drafted 71st overall in 2020 by OTT (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The goalies closest to him in games played in 2022-23. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Dylan Ferguson OTT · 2 GP, 0.940 Eetu Makiniemi SJS · 2 GP, 0.906 Jiri Patera VGK · 2 GP, 0.929 Justus Annunen COL · 2 GP, 0.854 Keith Kinkaid COL · 2 GP, 0.950

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

051015202022-23: 2 games222-232024-25: 12 games1224-252025-26: 20 games2025-262026-27: 4 games426-27

Games played by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save % Cap hit
2022-23 OTT 2 0110 49 43 6 4.23 0.878 $820K
2024-25 OTT 12 8313 295 273 22 1.99 0.925 $820K
2025-26 OTT 20 81010 457 393 64 3.51 0.860 $1.05M
2026-27 VAN 4 1000 85 79 6 2.18 0.929 $1.1M
4 seasons Career 38 171433 886 788 98 2.93 0.889

2022-23 season totals

GP Starts WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
2 2 0110 49 43 6 4.23 0.878

Contract

$820KCap hitends in 2025, then RFA

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show.

The contract

Signed by the Ottawa Senators on Jun 14, 2021, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.54M, beginning in 2022-23. It runs through 2024-25, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2022-23 $820K $750K $80K $830K
2023-24 $820K $775K $80K $855K
2024-25 $820K $775K $0 $775K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 2, 2026 Ottawa Senators New contract 2026-27 to 2026-27 1 $1.1M $1.1M
2025-26 to 2025-26 $1.05M
Jun 14, 2021 Ottawa Senators Entry-level 2022-23 to 2024-25 signed for 2021-22, slid 3 $2.54M $820K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2022-23 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2022-23 analytics

Rating

-0.3Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.8Goals above averagehis goals saved above expected

The goals he saved for his team, compared with a spare-part goalie facing the same shots. A goalie's season is about one-third the goalie and two-thirds chance, so read one year lightly. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-20-15-10-505102022-232024-252025-262026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

Shots faced

Expected goals adds up how likely each shot he faced was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. A goalie who lets in fewer than that has saved goals above expected. Only shots taken while he was in net count, and the league's goalies as a whole come out at zero. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones. What these numbers mean

-0.8Goals saved above expectedexpected goals minus goals against
5.2Expected goals againstfrom 70 unblocked attempts
6Goals againstwhile he was in net
0.878Save %0.894 expected from his shots
Goals saved -0.58 above expected per 60 minutes7th
Shot difficulty 7.4% chance per attempt faced96thA higher bar means his team gives up more dangerous shots.

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 67 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest this season.

0246Allowed 6Expected 5.2

The goals he was expected to let in and the goals he did, as the season went on. When the allowed line runs below the expected line, he is saving more than his shots were worth.

Where he was shot at

Every unblocked attempt he faced this season, with his net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result Decision Shots against Saves Goals against Save % TOI
Apr 6, 2023 @ FLA L 2-7 L 12 9 3 0.750 21:24
Apr 4, 2023 @ CAR L 2-3 (OT) OTL 37 34 3 0.919 63:41