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

[Senscore]

Kid's got some game

 

[Sun God Nika]

Still so raw, by the time he is Sogaard age he will be a full time NHL goalie as a back up

 

[Knave]

Still so raw, by the time he is Sogaard age he will be a full time NHL goalie as a back up

2 years younger than Soogard.

Makes you wonder what is going on with Soogard. Merilainen looks like the veteran pro who has spent countless hours perfecting positionally sound goaltending. Soogard looks like it's the first time he's put on the pads to go play goalie just flailing around, slow to square up to the shooter, often overplaying when he pushes off.

What happened that Soogard hasn't really learned to play the positionally sound hockey Merilainen clearly has?

People can shout Merilainen got lucky with posts but half the posts tonight were going to hit his body if they were on net. The other two were close and there was a tiny gap but he made it an incredibly difficult shot and the Wild couldn't convert.

Soogard just doesn't seem collected when he plays. It's frantic and panicked. The goalie coaches need to spend time with him and hopefully figure it out.

Our 6'2 goalie looks bigger than our 6'7 goalie. It's not good for Soogard. Great for Merilainen.

 

[Sun God Nika]

2 years younger than Soogard.

Makes you wonder what is going on with Soogard. Merilainen looks like the veteran pro who has spent countless hours perfecting positionally sound goaltending. Soogard looks like it's the first time he's put on the pads to go play goalie just flailing around, slow to square up to the shooter, often overplaying when he pushes off.

What happened that Soogard hasn't really learned to play the positionally sound hockey Merilainen clearly has?

People can shout Merilainen got lucky with posts but half the posts tonight were going to hit his body if they were on net. The other two were close and there was a tiny gap but he made it an incredibly difficult shot and the Wild couldn't convert.

Soogard just doesn't seem collected when he plays. It's frantic and panicked. The goalie coaches need to spend time with him and hopefully figure it out.

Our 6'2 goalie looks bigger than our 6'7 goalie. It's not good for Soogard. Great for Merilainen.

Levi comes from a goalie factory with Finland's development program. Where as Soogard was just drafted because he was the tallest player in his draft.

But credit to the scouts for finding him, he was unranked his draft year and they got a lot of criticism for taking him in the third round.

 

[SensontheRush]

Meri Christmas everyone!

 

[starling]

He's still young. Our goalie coaches haven't ruined polished this diamond yet.

 

[GoSenatorsGo]

I’m a believer. This kid has some poise, and confidence. I think we will be seeing some competition in the very near future.

 

[Xspyrit]

Makes you wonder what is going on with Soogard.

Sometimes it's simply the case of a player who can't make that jump to the NHL. There's a vast difference between each level and the NHL is a big step over the AHL, the SHL or even the KHL. Not every player is going to succeed in that league.

Look at Gaudette, he's 28 y/o and had 27 career goals before the season. It's a hard graduation

 

[Senovision]

Levi.." Quality never goes out of style"

 

[umma gumma]

Mean old Leevi taught them to weep and moan. He's got what it takes to make a Minny man leave his home. Oh well.

 

[Tuna99]

Can’t you just see this guy getting bear hugs from Ullmark for the next few years.he looks like a goalie and kinda in the nerdy, Nordic Dad way that Ullmark is. He’s Ullmark’s runt son. Could be seeing a real thing here where Ottawa goes from legit starter to legit starter and we have starting goaltending for a decade +

What a draft pick Outta nowhere not even ranked and now two huge wins for a team in a playoff race that hasn’t made the playoffs in 7 years - Levi keeping their position in the top 8 and straight up massive saves. Also gave up a goal early and then shut the door.

And just going old school wearing #1 like Razor, this guy gets me going.

Trent Mann wherever you are - love you man. And Travis Green whatever you are putting in the locker room punch bowl, love you too man. Leevi, love you most of all.

 

[MoreGore]

Pump the brakes, it was just one game.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

2 years younger than Soogard.

Makes you wonder what is going on with Soogard. Merilainen looks like the veteran pro who has spent countless hours perfecting positionally sound goaltending. Soogard looks like it's the first time he's put on the pads to go play goalie just flailing around, slow to square up to the shooter, often overplaying when he pushes off.

What happened that Soogard hasn't really learned to play the positionally sound hockey Merilainen clearly has?

People can shout Merilainen got lucky with posts but half the posts tonight were going to hit his body if they were on net. The other two were close and there was a tiny gap but he made it an incredibly difficult shot and the Wild couldn't convert.

Soogard just doesn't seem collected when he plays. It's frantic and panicked. The goalie coaches need to spend time with him and hopefully figure it out.

Our 6'2 goalie looks bigger than our 6'7 goalie. It's not good for Soogard. Great for Merilainen.

Soogard is part of the gigantic goalie trend. Get the tallest, biggest guy you can find, and put the most padding on him you can get away with. Skills and technique be damned.

Thankfully that trend seems to be petering out, and teams are starting to look at regular sized tenders with skills and hockey sense.

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

I liked his rebound control and he wasn’t swimming in his net like that fraud Soogard.

 

[Nova Stutzlia]

Mean old Leevi taught them to weep and moan. He's got what it takes to make a Minny man leave his home. Oh well.

That went over like a Led Zeppelin balloon.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Soogard is part of the gigantic goalie trend. Get the tallest, biggest guy you can find, and put the most padding on him you can get away with. Skills and technique be damned.

Thankfully that trend seems to be petering out, and teams are starting to look at regular sized tenders with skills and hockey sense.

Kevin Reidler is 6'6 and has had a very good start to his college career. Small sample size but he has some promise.

 

[swiftwin]

These draft day threads are always hilarious to read.

 

[ChurchOfAlfie]

Levi comes from a goalie factory with Finland's development program. Where as Soogard was just drafted because he was the tallest player in his draft.

But credit to the scouts for finding him, he was unranked his draft year and they got a lot of criticism for taking him in the third round.

Soogard was drafted because he put up a .921 save percentage in his draft year, stealing the net away from Sens prospect Jordan Hollett in the regular season in Medicine Hat, then had a very strong playoffs.

I've given up on Soogard, but it's no use rewriting history.

 

[NyQuil]

These draft day threads are always hilarious to read.

Meh, most people seemingly didn’t mind the pick but just thought it was too early.

 

[darude]

Pump the brakes, it was just one game.

He looked decent in both his wins, even if SV% doesn't reflect that. The Vancouver game was the one where he had no chance on 2-3 of the goals because of missed assignments.

 

[Volt]

Roll with him as the starter until Ullmark is back

From there on, he should be the primary backup ahead of Forsberg

 

[Micklebot]

Pump the brakes, it was just one game.

Can we stop pumping the breaks yet?

 

[Sun God Nika]

He looked good in the loss against Dallas too. He has clearly been playing better than Forsberg.

 

[PlayersLtd]

Roll with him as the starter until Ullmark is back

From there on, he should be the primary backup ahead of Forsberg

Lilke Vancouver hoped with Silovs?

This recent run changes nothing for the development plan the Sens had for Merrilainen. You shelter him where you can and take it slow. He's back to Belleville when Ullmark is healthy and until then plays 50% at most.

Why? Because if you part with Forsberg and Ullmark goes down again you're putting yourself in a a spot where you have no choice but to turn to Levi for a heavy, pressure filled work load and that's how you completely ruin a young goalie, not to mention throw your playoff hopes away.

Alternatively, you send him back brimming with confidence, he continues to season in the A, he wins, he goes on a Calder Cup run and you cement the plan for next year which is to have him play 30 games in the NHL.

 

[Dionysus]

He gives the team a better chance to win than Forsberg, simple as that. Should get the starters workload until Ullmark comes back. Obviously Forsberg will get games, and don't expect Leevi to start back to back.

Has a cool confident look about him in net. Makes the saves you expect, slows the play down when needed.