Veini Vehviläinen

Veini Vehviläinen
Born (1997-02-13) 13 February 1997 (age 27)
Jyväskylä, Finland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Liiga team
Former teams		 JYP Jyväskylä
Vaasan Sport
Oulun Kärpät
Columbus Blue Jackets
Brynäs IF
National team  Finland
NHL draft 173rd overall, 2018
Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing career 2014–present

Veini Vehviläinen (born 13 February 1997) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently playing with JYP Jyväskylä of the Liiga. He was selected in the sixth round, 173rd overall, by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Vehviläinen began playing as a youth within JYP Jyväskylä, playing in the junior ranks, he impressively backstopped the under 20 team in the Jr. A SM-liiga as a 16-year old in the 2013–14 season.

Vehviläinen made his professional debut in the Mestis with JYP-Akatemia in the 2014–15 season, before stepping up to the Liiga with JYP in the following 2015–16 season.

On 18 April 2017, Vehviläinen left JYP and secured a two-year contract with Oulun Kärpät.[1]

Establishing himself as the youngest starting goaltender in the Liiga, Vehviläinen quick ascension as the Liiga's best goaltender was realised in the 2017–18 season with Kärpät. He finished second in goals against average and save percentage, finishing with 20 wins in 35 games. He helped Kärpät capture the Kanada-malja championship, posting 11 wins and 3 shutouts in 17 playoff games. He was named to the Liiga All-Star Team and captured the Urpo Ylönen trophy as the league's best goaltender.[2]

After his selection by the Columbus Blue Jackets, 173rd overall, in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Vehviläinen returned to play with Oulun Kärpät for the 2018–19 season. In backstopping the league leading Oulun Kärpät, Vehviläinen continued his stellar play leading the league in GAA and SV% while also posting a Liiga best 25 wins and 6 shutouts. He helped Oulun return to the Championship finals, leading all goaltenders with a 1.47 GAA and 4 shutouts. He finished with a 11–6 record before falling to HPK.

On 4 June 2019, Vehviläinen at the conclusion of his contract with Kärpät agreed to a two-year, entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.[3]

With the following 2020–21 NHL season delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vehviläinen opted to continue playing in Europe after accepting a loan assignment from the Blue Jackets to play with former Finnish club, JYP Jyväskylä of the Liiga, on 8 September 2020.[4]

With the commencement of the North American season, Vehviläinen was assigned by the Blue Jackets returning to AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. After one game with the Monsters, Vehviläinen was initially recalled by the Blue Jackets to the taxi squad before making his NHL debut in relief of Joonas Korpisalo, allowing 1 goal in the 11 minutes remaining of a 5–0 defeat to the Dallas Stars on 6 March 2021.[5] Reassigned to the Monsters, Vehviläinen was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Mikko Lehtonen on 12 March 2021. He was immediately assigned to continue in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies.[6] In four appearances with the Marlies, he collected 1 win.

As a free agent from the Maple Leafs, Vehviläinen halted his North American career in agreeing to sign a one-year contract with Swedish club, Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), on 26 July 2021.[7]

Entering his second season with Brynäs IF, Vehviläinen was winless in 5 games to open the 2022–23 season, before opting to leave the club and the SHL in order to return to his original Finnish club, JYP Jyväskylä of the Liiga, by agreeing to a three-year contract on 11 September 2022.[8]

International play

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Slovakia
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Finland
World U18 Championships
Silver medal – second place 2015 Switzerland

Vehviläinen represented Finland at the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships, where played seven games, posting a 1.65 goals against average and a .949 save percentage, to backstop Team Finland to a silver medal. He was named to the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championship All-Star Team as the tournament's best goaltender.

At the 2019 IIHF World Championship Vehviläinen played one game against United States in the group stage. Finland went on to win the tournament earning Vehviläinen the gold medal.[9]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2012–13 JYP Jyväskylä Jr. A 1 — — — — — — 3.23 .933 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 JYP Jyväskylä Jr. A 29 — — — — — — 2.89 .919 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 JYP Jyväskylä Jr. A 17 — — — — — — 3.09 .918 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 JYP-Akatemia Mestis 26 — — — — — — 2.57 .917 4 — — — — — 2.56 .922
2015–16 JYP Jyväskylä Liiga 28 15 7 4 1649 56 3 2.04 .925 3 0 2 146 9 0 3.70 .796
2015–16 JYP-Akatemia Mestis 7 — — — — — — 2.92 .925 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 JYP Jyväskylä Liiga 9 2 5 2 499 19 0 2.29 .912 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 JYP-Akatemia Mestis 7 2 4 1 393 16 0 2.45 .904 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 Vaasan Sport Liiga 9 2 5 2 538 19 0 2.12 .923 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 35 20 5 8 2030 64 4 1.89 .925 17 11 4 364 26 3 1.57 .933
2018–19 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 38 25 8 5 2290 60 6 1.58 .933 17 11 6 1057 25 4 1.47 .939
2019–20 Cleveland Monsters AHL 33 10 18 4 1915 88 3 2.76 .901 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 JYP Jyväskylä Liiga 13 3 7 3 793 42 1 3.18 .890 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Cleveland Monsters AHL 1 0 1 0 59 3 0 3.05 .875 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 1 0 0 0 11 1 0 5.63 .750 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Toronto Marlies AHL 4 1 3 0 221 12 0 3.26 .908 — — — — — — — —
2021–22 Brynäs IF SHL 45 21 23 0 2601 101 5 2.33 .907 3 1 2 160 6 1 2.25 .906
2022–23 Brynäs IF SHL 5 0 4 0 260 18 0 4.15 .854 — — — — — — — —
Liiga totals 132 67 37 24 7,799 260 14 2.00 .923 37 22 12 2,198 60 7 1.64 .929
NHL totals 1 0 0 0 11 1 0 5.63 .750 — — — — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2014 Finland IH18 5th 2 1 1 0 120 11 0 5.50 .841
2015 Finland U18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 5 1 1 437 12 1 1.65 .949
2016 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 2 1 0 206 13 1 3.79 .838
2017 Finland WJC 9th 6 3 2 0 318 8 1 1.51 .931
2019 Finland WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1 0 0 1 64 3 0 2.82 .897
Junior totals 19 11 5 1 1081 44 3 2.44 .922
Senior totals 1 0 0 1 64 3 0 2.82 .897

Awards and honours

Award Year
Liiga
All-Star Team 2018
Urpo Ylönen trophy 2018 [2]
Kanada-malja (Oulun Kärpät) 2018
Best GAA (1.58) 2019
Best SVS% (.923) 2019
International
WJC18 Silver Medal 2015 [10]
WJC18 All-Star Team 2015 [11]

References

  1. ^ "Oulun announce new signings" (in Finnish). Oulun Kärpät. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Vehvilainen honored at Liiga's award ceremony". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 2 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Blue Jackets sign Veini Vehvilainen to an entry-level contract". Columbus Blue Jackets. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  4. ^ "CBJ loan Bemstrom, Texier and Vehvilainen to trio of Liiga clubs". Columbus Blue Jackets. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Blue Jackets Veini Vehvilainen makes NHL debut in relief". CBS Sports. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Maple Leafs acquire Veini Vehviläinen from Columbus". Toronto Maple Leafs. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  7. ^ "World Cup Gold netminder ready for Brynas" (in Swedish). Brynäs IF. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Veini Vehviläinen returns home" (in Finnish). JYP Jyväskylä. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Finland defeats Canada for Gold Medal at World Championship". The Sports Network. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  10. ^ "NHL Draft Watch: Plenty of European sleepers rise at U18 championship". Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  11. ^ "IIHF announces U18 All-Star Team" (PDF). IIHF. 21 May 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2015.