Last season, goaltender Leevi Merilainen turned into one of the top prospects in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators. In 12 NHL games, Merilainen was terrific with earning eight wins and finishing with a 1.99 goals against average and .925 save percentage. Merilainen also added three shutouts to go with his short but fantastic 12-game NHL season.
Merilainen was a key reason why the Senators didn't fall down in the standings and clinch a playoff spot last season after both Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg were injured in the Winter. This past off-season, Merilainen was a restricted free agent, but re-signed on a one-year contract.