Blue Jackets Recall Veini Vehvilainen, Assign Four Players to Cleveland
Jan 15, 2020The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, top affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, announced Wednesday that the Blue Jackets recalled goaltender Veini Vehvilainen and assigned defensemen Gabriel Carlsson and Andrew Peeke, forward Ryan MacInnis and goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks to the Monsters.
A 6’1”, 183 lb. left-catching native of Jyväskylä, Finland, Vehvilainen, 22, was selected by Columbus in the sixth round (173rd overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and signed a two-year, two-way entry level contract with the Blue Jackets on June 4, 2019. In 19 appearances for the Monsters this season, Vehvilainen posted a record of 8-10-1 with two shutouts, a 2.22 goals-against average (GAA) and a .918 save percentage (S%). Prior to his North American professional career, Vehvilainen supplied a record of 64-21-30 with 13 shutouts, a 1.83 GAA and a .926 S% in 199 Liiga appearances for JYP, SportsVaasa and Kärpät spanning parts of five seasons from 2014-19. A Liiga All-Star in 2018 and 2019, Vehvilainen claimed the 2018 and 2019 Urpo Ylönen Award as Liiga’s top goaltender and heped Kärpät claim the 2018 Liiga Championship and the 2019 Liiga Silver Medal. Vehvilainen helped Finland claim the Gold Medal at the 2019 IIHF World Championships and represented Finland at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, helping Finland to Gold Medal honors at the 2016 tournament.
A 6’5”, 192 lb. left-shooting native of Örebro, Sweden, Carlsson, 23, was originally selected by Columbus in the first round (29th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and signed a three-year, two-way entry level contract with the Blue Jackets on April 19, 2016. Carlsson posted two penalty minutes and a -1 rating in six appearances for Columbus this season and added 1-8-9 with ten penalty minutes and a +6 rating in 28 appearances for the Monsters. In 23 career NHL appearances for the Blue Jackets spanning parts of four seasons from 2016-20, Carlsson supplied 0-3-3 with eight penalty minutes and a -4 rating and posted a +1 rating in five postseason appearances for Columbus in 2017. In 131 career AHL appearances for Cleveland spanning parts of four seasons from 2016-19, Carlsson contributed 5-22-27 with 40 penalty minutes and a +6 rating. In 92 career SHL appearances for Linköping HC spanning parts of three seasons from 2014-17, Carlsson tallied 3-12-15 with eight penalty minutes and a +15 rating. Additionally, Carlsson represented Sweden in the 2016 and 2017 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships.
A 6’3”, 198 lb. right-shooting native of Parkland, FL, Peeke, 21, was originally selected by Columbus in the second round (34th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and signed a three-year, two-way entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets on April 1, 2019. In seven appearances for the Blue Jackets this season, the first of his NHL career, Peeke tallied 0-1-1 with two penalty minutes and a +3 rating and added 5-7-12 with four penalty minutes and a +3 rating in 21 appearances for Cleveland. Prior to his professional career, Peeke tallied 12-40-52 with 62 penalty minutes and a +20 rating in 119 NCAA appearances for the University of Notre Dame spanning three seasons from 2016-19. In 56 USHL appearances for the Green Bay Gamblers during the 2015-16 season, Peeke supplied 4-26-30 with 30 penalty minutes and a +7 rating.
A 6’3”, 185 lb. left-shooting native of St. Louis, MO, MacInnis, 23, was originally selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and accepted a qualifying offer from Columbus on July 16, 2019. In seven appearances for the Blue Jackets this season, the first of his NHL career, Macinnis notched 0-1-1 with a +1 rating and added 3-12-15 with 16 penalty minutes and a +8 rating in 28 appearances for Cleveland. In 228 career AHL appearances for the Springfield Falcons, Tucson Roadrunners and the Monsters spanning parts of five seasons from 2016-19, Macinnis logged 21-49-70 with 127 penalty minutes and a -9 rating. Prior to his professional career, MacInnis contributed 79-101-180 with 95 penalty minutes and a -21 rating in 192 appearances for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers spanning parts of three seasons from 2013-16. In 41 USHL appearances for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in 2012-13, MacInnis notched 8-6-14 with six penalty minutes and a -13 rating and helped Team USA claim Bronze Medal honors at the 2016 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships.
A 6’2”, 180 lb. left-catching native of Riga, Latvia, Kivlenieks, 23, signed a three-year, two-way entry level contract with Columbus on May 25, 2017. In 15 appearances for Cleveland this year, Kivlenieks supplied a record of 7-6-2 with one shutout, a 3.04 GAA and a .894 S%. In 72 career AHL appearances, all for the Monsters, spanning parts of three seasons from 2017-19, Kivlenieks posted a record of 25-31-7 with three shutouts, a 3.26 GAA and a .888 S%. During the 2018-19 season, Kilvenieks logged a 5-3-0 record in a 2.71 GAA and a .923 S% in eight ECHL appearances for the Kalamazoo Wings. Prior to his professional career, Kilvenieks went 36-7-2 with five shutouts, a 1.85 GAA and a .932 S% in 49 appearances for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers during the 2016-17 campaign. That season, Kivlenieks claimed USHL Player and Goaltender of the Year honors, was named to the 2016-17 USHL First All-Star Team and helped Sioux City claim the 2017 Anderson Cup as USHL Regular-Season Champions while leading the league in wins (1st), shutouts (T1st), GAA (1st) and S% (1st).