Leevi Merilainen has played just one game in the minors, but he's already headed to the NHL.
The Ottawa Senators recalled the 20-year-old Finnish goalie on Sunday to fill in for Mads Søgaard, who left Saturday's game against Toronto after two periods with an illness. The Dane did not travel with the team to Columbus, where the Sens will play the Blue Jackets at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT. The game can be viewed on SN NOW Premium.
Merilainen was assigned to Ottawa's American Hockey League team in Belleville on March 23, after completing his season with Kärpät in Finland's top tier Liiga.
He posted a shutout in his lone AHL game, a 41-save effort against the Toronto Marlies on Saturday. The six-foot-three goalie was drafted 71st overall in 2020. He posted a 2.02 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 42 games this season with Karpat.
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