Finnish-native net minder Daniel Lebedeff(60) spent 5 years in the U.S. honing his hockey skills but decided to head back home as the pandemic closed down the postseason and more, signing a two-year deal with HPK of Liiga.
After doing all of his youth hockey with HIFK, the fairly large 6’2″ 194 lbs. goalie left to sign with Madison Capitals of the USHL, where he spent a little over a year and committed to University Of Wisconsin Badgers but decided to leave for the lower NAHL joining Janesville Jets.
He would better excel in this league and even made the playoffs for a couple of appearances.
Although his record at college (23-26-2) wasn’t exactly stellar with a 3.49 GAA and .892 SV% in 55 NCAA Big Ten Conference games, I think folks who know how better than us still see promise in the still young 21-year old, potentially from the one pretty strong junior campaign.
The Helsinki native is putting up some outstanding numbers through the midway point of 2021/2022, running together a 6-2-3 record with a 1.55 GAA and .938 SV% to earn another year added to his current deal.
After 5 years back in his home country, he is branching out to the tough to play Slovak Extraliga and signs with HK 32 Liptovsky Miskulas for 2025/2026.