The Toronto Maple Leafs have selected goaltender Juuso Ainasto with the 85th pick of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Ainasto, a 6-foot-4 Finnish netminder, is the latest example of taking a gamble on a goaltender and adding to the pile of lottery tickets in hopes that one of them comes to fruition.

He spent the 2025-26 season in Jukurit of the Finnish league, playing in their junior system and splitting time between their U18 and U20 teams. He won the championship with Jukurit’s U18 team and was instrumental in their success, going 8-3-0 in 12 regular season games with a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.74 and a save percentage (SV%) of .938. He was equally if not more impressive in the playoffs, boasting a record of 9-3-0 along with a GAA of 1.85 and SV% of .925.

He was less successful on paper with the U20 team, with a save percentage (SV%) of .892 and a GAA of 3.28 along with a record of 6-7-0 in 14 games. Still, the Leafs don’t need him to be starting NHL games anytime soon, so there’s plenty of time for him to continue to prove himself at each level.

CanucksArmy’s David Quadrelli spoke highly of Ainasto’s game in a piece highlighting goalie options in this year’s draft.

Ainasto will join a stacked Leafs goaltending prospect pool that already includes the likes of Dennis Hildeby, Artur Akhtyamov, Vyacheslav Peksa, and Timofei Obvintsev, all of whom were drafted within the past six years.