# Nelli Laitinen

Nelli Laitinen (born 29 April 2002) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She is serving as a captain of the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program during the 2024–25 season.

## Playing career

Laitinen began her college ice hockey career with the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) conference of the NCAA Division I as an incoming freshman for the 2022–23 season. Despite missing eight games due to an upper-body injury that kept her sidelined for two months, she tallied 18 points and ranked third for points of all team defenseman. Her impressive first season was recognized with her selection to the Watch List for the Hockey Commissioners Association National Rookie of the Year and naming to the USCHO All-Rookie and the WCHA All-Rookie teams.

## International play

As a junior player with the Finnish national under-18 team, she participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Laitinen made her senior national team debut at the 2018 4 Nations Cup in Saskatoon, Canada, where she contributed one assist in four games to Finland's bronze medal victory. Later that season, she represented Finland at the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship. At sixteen years old, she was the youngest player on the team and 29 years younger than Finland's eldest player, Riikka Sallinen. She recorded one assist in seven games as Finland won the first World Championship silver medal in team history.
She won bronze medals representing Finland at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship and in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
At the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship, she notched 3 goals and 7 assists in seven games, ranking third on the team points table in a tie with forwards Noora Tulus and Viivi Vainikka, each scoring 10 points. Her totals ranked second of all Finnish defensemen, trailing captain Jenni Hiirikoski by just 1 assist.

## Personal life

Laitinen's older brother, Villi (born 1999), is a professional ice hockey defenseman in the Finnish Liiga. When she joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the jersey number 9, which she had worn in her career to that point, was already in use and she selected 7 as her new number because her brother had worn it in the past.
At a pre-Olympic press conference in January 2022, she confirmed that she was in a relationship with NHL player Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Her major at the University of Minnesota is in business and marketing. Swedish national team player Josefin Bouveng was one of her four roommates during her first year at the university.

## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs

Naisten SM-sarja (NSMs) was rebranded as Naisten Liiga (NSML) in 2017 and Auroraliiga in 2024. Espoo Blues renamed as Kiekko-Espoo in 2019.
| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2016–17 | HAKI | N. Mestis | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2016–17 | HAKI | N. Suomi-sarja | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2016–17 | KJT (L) | NSMs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017–18 | HAKI U16 | U16 Mestis | 18 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2017–18 | Espoo Blues | NSML | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| 2017–18 | KJT (L) | NSML | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2018–19 | Espoo Blues | NSML | 27 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 2019–20 | Kiekko-Espoo | NSML | 28 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 6 |
| 2020–21 | Kiekko-Espoo | NSML | 24 | 13 | 24 | 37 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| 2021–22 | Kiekko-Espoo | NSML | 23 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 8 |
| 2022–23 | Minnesota Golden Gophers | NCAA | 30 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 4 | – | – | – | – | — |
| 2023–24 | Minnesota Golden Gophers | NCAA | 39 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 10 | – | – | – | – | — |
| Naisten Liiga totals | Naisten Liiga totals | Naisten Liiga totals | 117 | 41 | 100 | 141 | 54 | 42 | 16 | 36 | 52 | 22 |
| NCAA totals | NCAA totals | NCAA totals | 69 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 14 | – | – | – | – | – |
Note: Postseason results for the 2016–17 season are from the qualification series (Finnish: Karsintasarja) rather than the playoffs and are not calculated with playoff totals. Sources: Elite Prospects, Finnish Ice Hockey Association

### International

| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2017 | Finland U18 | WC18 | 5th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2018 | Finland U18 | WC18 | 5th | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2019 | Finland U18 | WC18 | | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 2019 | Finland | WC | | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2020 | Finland U18 | WC18 | 4th | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 2021 | Finland | WC | | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2022 | Finland | OG | | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| 2022 | Finland | WC | 6th | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 2023 | Finland | WC | 5th | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 |
| 2024 | Finland | WC | | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Junior totals | Junior totals | Junior totals | Junior totals | 22 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 10 |
| Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | 42 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 22 |
Sources: Finnish Ice Hockey Association, International Ice Hockey Federation

## Honors and achievements

| Award | Period |
| International ||
| World U18 Top-3 Player on Team | 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| World U18 All-Star Team | 2019 |
| World U18 Bronze Medal | 2019 |
| World U18 Best Defenseman | 2020 |
| World Championship Silver Medal | 2019 |
| World Championship Bronze Medal | 2021, 2024 |
| Olympic Bronze Medal | 2022 |
| World Championship Top-3 Player on Team | 2024 |
| Minnesota Golden Gophers ||
| USCHO All-Rookie Team | 2022–23 |
| WCHA All-Conference Rookie Team | 2022–23 |
| National Rookie of the Year Watch List | 2022–23 |
| WCHA Defender of the Week | 23–29 October 2023 |
| WCHA All-Conference Second Team | 2023–24 |
| Naisten Liiga ||
| All-Star First Team | 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 |
| Aurora Borealis Cup Champion | 2019, 2021, 2022 |
| Päivi Halonen Award (Best Defenseman) | 2020, 2021, 2022 |
| U18 Student Athlete | 2020 |
| Player of the Month | October 2020 |
| Karoliina Rantamäki Award (Playoff MVP) | 2022 |
Sources: