The Ottawa Senators locked up goaltender Leevi Merilainen on a one-year extension Thursday, and the money says a lot about where they think he fits. It’s a one-way deal worth $1.1 million for the 2026-27 season, a modest bump from the $1.05 million he was playing on. President and GM Steve Staios announced it, but the real story is how Merilainen went from backup hopeful to AHL regular and back again in about six months.
Merilainen, 23, played a career-high 20 NHL games this past season. The numbers? Not great. An 8-10-1 record with a 3.51 goals-against average and an .860 save percentage. But context matters. When Linus Ullmark took a leave of absence, Merilainen got thrown into the fire with 10 straight starts. That’s a lot for a kid who had only ever spot-started before. The Senators eventually brought in veteran James Reimer, and Merilainen went back to Belleville in the AHL.
Down there, he looked more like himself. In 19 games with Belleville, he went 8-8-1 with a 2.77 GAA, a .909 save percentage, and two shutouts. Not flashy, but solid. And it’s worth remembering what he did the season before. In 2024-25, Merilainen looked like he’d grabbed the backup job for good. Over 12 NHL games, he went 8-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA and a .925 save percentage. In the AHL that same season, he put up an 18-12-7 record with a 2.37 GAA and a .913 clip in 37 games. That version of Merilainen? That’s the guy the Senators hope shows up next year.
He’s a third-round pick from 2020 — 71st overall — and he’s played 34 NHL games across three seasons now. His career numbers in the big league: 16-14-3, three shutouts, and an .885 save percentage. At the AHL level, he’s been a workhorse: 84 games with Belleville, a 39-29-14 record, eight shutouts, and a .911 save percentage. He also got a taste of Calder Cup action in 2024, stopping 27 of 29 shots in a 3-1 loss to Cleveland.
The Senators have a pretty clear picture in net now. Ullmark is locked up for three more years, and they just brought in Samuel Ersson on a two-year deal. That puts Merilainen in an interesting spot. He’s not the starter. He’s not even clearly the backup. But he’s cheap, he’s young, and he’s shown flashes of being able to handle NHL work. He’ll go into next season as part of the organization’s goalie group, and if someone goes down, he’s the first call.
Merilainen also has some international pedigree — he played for Finland at the 2022 World Juniors — and the Senators clearly think there’s more to unlock. The contract extension is a vote of confidence, but it’s also a short one. One year, low money, see what happens. That’s the NHL goalie business. Merilainen has 12 months to prove last season’s rough patch was a blip, not a trend.
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