The Los Angeles Kings selected Finnish goalie Petteri Rimpinen with the 152nd overall pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Rimpinen's draft stock skyrocketed after a spectacular performance in the World Junior Tournament this past winter for Team Finland.
Goalie prospect development pipeline is loaded for the Los Angeles Kings with talented young netminders like Petteri Rimpinen and Carter George
After gaining attention from NHL scouts and front office general managers last winter in the world juniors, Rimpinen was one of the most intriguing goalie prospects in the Kings' developmental system from the 2025 draft class for LA this past summer.
The Hockey Writers named Rimpinen as the Kings' "most underrated prospect" in their developmental system going into the upcoming 2025-26 season.
This piece from The Hockey Writers specifically mentions Rimpinen putting up a stellar 5-2-0 record with a .933 save percentage in the world juniors last winter as one of the reasons why he was picked as the Kings' most underrated prospect going into the 2025-26 season.
Rimpinen won the award for the Best Goalie at the world juniors last winter after winning five games for Team Finland.
Rimpinen said that he had a great experience at the World Juniors Tournament in 2025 for Team Finland earlier this past winter.
"It was the best tournament I’ve ever been in. It was in Ottawa, one of the best places to probably hold a U-20 tournament. It was really special. The silver medal we got as a team, it was of course a special moment for the whole group and it was a lot of fun up there. "Petter Rimpinen
The Kings' young goaltending prospect returned to World Juniors camp for Team Finland earlier this year in the summer. He is still eligible in terms of age to play for Team Finland for one more year in the world juniors this upcoming winter.
Rimpinen didn't play for the Kings for the Golden State Rookie Faceoff event a couple of weeks ago this fall. He's still playing professionally overseas in Europe for this upcoming season, which conflicted with rookie camp and the rookie faceoff for the Kings this fall.