Veini Vehviläinen

Veini Vehviläinen (born 13 February 1997) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently playing with Jokerit of the Mestis. 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.

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.

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 Kärpät 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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

Vehviläinen returned to Finland and to his parent club JYP in November 2022, as he had previously terminated his contract with Brynäs. In December 2024, Vehviläinen's contract with JYP, which was originally due to last until spring 2025, was terminated after Vehviläinen remained the third goalkeeper.

A few days later, Vehviläinen moved to the ranks of the Liiga club TPS on a contract lasting until 11 January 2025, where he eventually played the rest of the season.

Vehviläinen did not sign an extension with TPS and remained unemployed. In October 2025, Vehviläinen initially signed a short-term contract with the Helsinki Jokerit team, which plays in the Mesti, until he signed a contract with the Jokerit team for the rest of the season.

International play

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.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs 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 .929NHL totals 1 0 0 0 11 1 0 5.63 .750 — — — — — — — —

International

Awards and honours Award Year Liiga All-Star Team 2018 Urpo Ylönen trophy 2018 WJC18 All-Star Team 2015