That didn’t take long. After reports this morning out of Finland that Veini Vehvilainen would soon be signing, the Columbus Blue Jackets have made it official. The goaltender has inked his two-year entry-level contract.
Vehvilainen, 22, has been an absolute star in Finland’s Liiga the past two seasons, posting .925 and .933 save percentages for Karpat. Both seasons his squad made it to the league final thanks to some incredible performances by the young goaltender, winning once. Vehvilainen added a World Championship gold medal recently, to go along with the World Junior medal he had from 2016. There’s little he hasn’t accomplished at this point in his career overseas, meaning his next step may be the professional ranks in North America.
Incredibly, Vehvilainen was only drafted in the sixth round last year at the age of 21. Every team in the league passed on him numerous times throughout his three years of draft eligibility, something Columbus will thank the stars for after watching him develop so quickly. The question now becomes where he fits in next season, given the glut of young goaltenders in the Blue Jackets system.
While Sergei Bobrovsky may be moving on from Columbus, the long-term future in net may not be so dire. The team signed Elvis Merzlikins at the end of the season and still has Joonas Korpisalo as a restricted free agent. Those are the old hands at 25 years old, while Vehvilainen (22), Matiss Kivlenieks (22) and Daniil Tarasov (20) are also now under contract. How everything shakes out is still unclear, but there is obviously opportunity to be seized in Columbus.