Prospect Info: 71st Overall Leevi Merilainen G, Fin, Karpat Jr

[Beville]

"Oh no! What would we possibly do if our 8-10-1, .893 sv%, career backup got claimed... Freeing up 2.75M in cap space to find an upgrade and/or improve the team in the process?"

Who cares if Forsberg's in a contract year? Why do we always feel obligated to cuddle our fringe, overpaid, marginal NHL players in Ottawa? Want to play and get paid in a contract year? How about you find some consistency in your game and play like an NHL goalie from the start of the season?

If Ullmark's back acts up, we should all feel more comfortable running with Leevi than Forsberg, since one has the best stat line in the organization while the other would have long been playing in the AHL if he was part of an organization the values winning above all (say Vegas).

With that being said, all the above is hypothetical. The point I'm making first and foremost is that Leevi should have never been taken out of the net to begin with.

- Not with a .666% win percentage.
- Not with the best stat line in the organization (what message does demoting him send to the rest of the team btw? So much for "best players play"?).
- Not coming off of a shutout.
- And especially not when we're 8 years into a playoffs drought, in part due to perennial bad goaltending.

And if Leevi shits the bed for the rest of the season, and we lose out on a WC spot, what do you say or do in response to that?

You’d be pissed, and don’t even try and lie.

 

[Ralph Malfredsson]

Bring him back, I'm team ride or die on Leevi

 

[aragorn]

Forsberg has a one way contract & while I like Merilainen he is only 22 yrs old & how he will do down the stretch or in the playoffs is unknown. Ullmark is the #1 when he is healthy, but going into the playoffs it will be necessary to have an NHL goalie as a backup rather than a rookie with limited games who can play if their are injuries or to change it up if necessary. I expect that Staois will either find an NHL vet as a backup for next season & Merilainen will have an opportunity to win it at training camp nest season, but either way I don't expect Forsberg will be back.

I also don't expect that Hamonic, Cousins, Highmore, Gaudette or Gregor will be back either.