Nelli Laitinen

Nelli Laitinen (born 29 April 2002) is a Finnish ice hockey player for PWHL Hamilton in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and member of the Finnish national team. She previously played as a captain of the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season.

Playing career Laitinen began her college ice hockey career with the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) conference of the NCAA Division I as an incoming freshman for the 2022–23 season. Despite missing eight games due to an upper-body injury that kept her sidelined for two months, she tallied 18 points and ranked third for points of all team defenseman. Her impressive first season was recognized with her selection to the Watch List for the Hockey Commissioners Association National Rookie of the Year and naming to the USCHO All-Rookie and the WCHA All-Rookie teams.

Professional On June 17, 2026, Laitinen was drafted sixth overall by PWHL Hamilton in the 2026 PHWL draft, making her the first entry draft player in team franchise history.

International play As a junior player with the Finnish national under-18 team, she participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Laitinen made her senior national team debut at the 2018 4 Nations Cup in Saskatoon, Canada, where she contributed one assist in four games to Finland's bronze medal victory. Later that season, she represented Finland at the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship. At sixteen years old, she was the youngest player on the team and 29 years younger than Finland's eldest player, Riikka Sallinen. She recorded one assist in seven games as Finland won the first World Championship silver medal in team history.

She won bronze medals representing Finland at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship and in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

At the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship, she notched 3 goals and 7 assists in seven games, ranking third on the team points table in a tie with forwards Noora Tulus and Viivi Vainikka, each scoring 10 points. Her totals ranked second of all Finnish defensemen, trailing captain Jenni Hiirikoski by just 1 assist.

On 2 January 2026, she was named to Finland's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Laitinen served as an alternate captain during the Olympic ice hockey tournament.

Personal life Laitinen's older brother, (born 1999), is a professional ice hockey defenseman. He has played in the Finnish Liiga, the Danish Metal Ligaen, and with Italian clubs in the ICE Hockey League and Alps Hockey League. When she joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the jersey number 9, which she had worn in her career to that point, was already in use and she selected 7 as her new number because her brother had worn it in the past.

In January 2022, she confirmed that she was in a relationship with NHL player Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Minnesota in 2026. Swedish national team player Josefin Bouveng was one of her four roommates during her first year at the university.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs

University of Minnesota Athletics

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2017 Finland U18 5th 5 0 1 1 4 2018 Finland U18 5th 5 0 4 4 0 2019 Finland U18 6 1 3 4 4 2019 WC 7 0 1 1 2 2020 Finland U18 4th 6 3 1 4 2 2021 Finland WC 7 1 0 1 4 2022 Finland OG 7 2 5 7 4 2022 Finland WC 6th 7 1 4 5 6 2023 Finland WC 5th 7 3 7 10 2 2024 Finland WC 7 1 3 4 4 2025 Finland WC 7 0 3 3 0 2026 Finland OG 6th 5 0 0 0 0 Junior totals 22 4 9 13 10 Senior totals 54 8 23 31 22

Honors and achievements AwardPeriodInternational World U18 Top-3 Player on Team 2018, 2019, 2020 World U18 All-Star Team 2019 World U18 Bronze Medal 2019 World U18 Best Defenseman 2020 World Championship Silver Medal 2019 World Championship Bronze Medal 2021, 2024, 2025 Olympic Bronze Medal 2022 World Championship Top-3 Player on Team 2024 Minnesota Golden Gophers USCHO All-Rookie Team 2022–23 WCHA All-Conference Rookie Team 2022–23 National Rookie of the Year Watch List 2022–23 WCHA Defender of the Week 23–29 October 2023 WCHA All-Conference Second Team 2023–24, 2025–26 AHCA All-American, Second Team 2025–26 Naisten Liiga All-Star First Team 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Aurora Borealis Cup Champion 2019, 2021, 2022 Päivi Halonen Award (Best Defenseman) 2020, 2021, 2022 U18 Student Athlete 2020 Player of the Month October 2020 Karoliina Rantamäki Award (Playoff MVP) 2022 Sources: