Eemil Vinni

April 2026: Vinni’s 2025-26 season became a split Mestis year, and that split is the story. Edmonton’s 2024 second-round pick did not take a straight-line step forward this season, but he did finish on stronger footing than he started. Joensuun Kiekko-Pojat loaned him to Ketterä on Feb. 15, 2026 after 17 games with JoKP, where the club said he carried an 88.4 save percentage. The move reset his year. Mestis official stats show Vinni finished the regular season with an 88.36 save percentage in 17 games for JoKP, then posted a 95.10 mark in four games for Ketterä. He followed that by leading Mestis playoff goalies in save percentage at 94.27 across six postseason appearances for Ketterä. The numbers point to a goalie who found more stability late, not a finished product, but a prospect who recovered some momentum after an uneven first half. That keeps him in the Oilers’ long-term conversation, though the better read today is still patience. He needs to carry that late-season form over a larger workload before the projection shifts from interesting rebound to real North American push. Andrew Epps

July 2025 – Prior to the 2024-25 season, Vinni underwent back surgery which limited him to only nine regular season games across three teams in Finland. It was an encouraging sign to see him playing again before the end of the season, and improving his save percentage as well. Though it’s a small sample size, Vinni had a .910 SV% over seven games for SM-sarja of the Finnish U20 league. Look for him to start in Mestis in 2025-26, and make a push for playing time in Liiga before the season is over. If he can get a long look in Liiga and continue putting up a .910 SV% or higher, he will likely make it to the AHL within two years as the Edmonton Oilers do not have a strong goalie prospect pool. Ioan Gheordanescu

June 2024 – Vinni was drafted 64th overall by the Oilers. Pat Quinn

February 2024 – The top goalie for many coming into the draft year, Vinni had a real rough start to his professional career in Mestis. Since then, however, he has been excellent and seems to have found his footing playing against men. Vinni is an intriguing prospect: the tools are evident but so are the issues. His lateral speed and general skating abilities are great, and he loves to aggressively challenge shooters. However, he can have a hard time tracking, getting beat on medium-low danger chances and through the body too often. – Colin Hunter

February Rankings: HM