{"id":5321,"date":"2026-06-27T07:34:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T07:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5321"},"modified":"2026-06-27T07:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T07:34:35","slug":"capitals-draft-17-year-old-oliver-suvanto-from-finland-with-first-round-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5321","title":{"rendered":"Capitals draft 17-year-old Oliver Suvanto from Finland with first-round pick"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oliver Suvanto of Finland, right, with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, sports a Capitals jersey after becoming Washington\u2019s first-round pick in Friday\u2019s NHL draft. (Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

With their first-round pick in the first round of the NHL draft, the Washington Capitals did something they haven\u2019t done in 20 years: They drafted a player from Finland.<\/p>

Read more Egypt star Mohamed Salah leaves 1-1 World Cup draw with Iran due to left knee injury<\/a><\/p>\n

Oliver Suvanto, 17, a 6-foot-3, 213-pound center was Washington\u2019s choice with the No. 18 overall pick and is the first Finn selected by the Capitals since Oskar Osala in the fourth round in 2006.<\/p>\n

Though he doesn\u2019t turn 18 until Sept. 3 \u2014 making him eligible for this year\u2019s draft by just 12 days \u2014 Suvanto played for Tappara in the Finnish Liiga this year, competing against grown men at the top professional level in Finland.<\/p>\n

Suvanto tallied just two goals and nine assists in 48 games, but his two-way ability is a standout attribute that made him a desirable pick.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We liked] that combination of his skating, his size, his character,\u201d said Ross Mahoney, Washington\u2019s assistant general manager in charge of the draft. \u201cHe\u2019s a very smart, intelligent player, also. \u2026 We see him being a second-line center for us in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOliver Suvanto is the most complete and mature 17-year-old center seen in Liiga since [Florida Panthers star] Aleksander Barkov,\u201d Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen, NHL director of European scouting, told NHL.com<\/a> before the draft. \u201cHe has already been trusted in key roles for powerhouse Tappara. His strong skating, balance and physical strength make him highly effective in face-offs, battles and defensive coverage. A natural two-way player, he combines reliability and intelligence, rarely making mistakes while consistently supporting both ends of the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rare is the team that admits, heading into a draft, that it plans to draft strictly for positional need. Nearly every franchise intends to draft the best player available at its slot, and the Capitals are no exception \u2014 but if all else was equal, they were hoping to get a center or a defenseman in the first round this year.<\/p>\n

With Suvanto\u2019s selection, they accomplished that goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of had a layer of six or seven players, and he was in that layer, for sure,\u201d Mahoney said. \u201cWe were happy to get him. We had talked about a bigger center or a bigger defenseman, and it was more a center that was there for us today.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Trossard, De Bruyne score and Belgium defeats New Zealand 5-1 to advance at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a bit of a surprise when the team picks you,\u201d Suvanto said. \u201cI think they didn\u2019t give that much signs for that, but I think the interview at the combine went well. I had a little smell from that, but it was a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suvanto acknowledged that he\u2019s not the most offensively productive player \u2014 though he said it\u2019s an area of focus and something he wants to improve \u2014 but he takes significant pride in the responsible style he plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say I\u2019m a two-way player,\u201d Suvanto said. \u201cI try to be responsible in the defensive zone and try to create also in the offensive zone. I\u2019m a big guy. I can battle, win the pucks. I like protecting the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suvanto projects as a player who will take on difficult defensive matchups and be a reliable, physical presence for Washington in coming years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuvanto has the profile of a powerful two-way center that makes things difficult on opposing teams\u2019 top players,\u201d wrote FloHockey\u2019s draft analyst<\/a> Chris Peters. \u201c… He has all the physical tools you could want, but he has had a hard time scoring with any level of consistency and a lackluster World U18s didn\u2019t calm those concerns. So why would Suvanto still be [ranked] this high? Big centers with defensive acumen, physicality and high-compete play a lot and for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the rest of the first round, there weren\u2019t many big surprises or off-the-board picks for the other teams in the league. As expected, Penn State forward Gavin McKenna was the No. 1 overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs \u2014 and his selection was announced by Maple Leafs fan and singer Justin Bieber, an Ontario native.<\/p>

Read more Egypt survives with 1-1 draw against Iran, advances past group stage for 1st time at World Cup<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 6-foot-3, 213-pound center was Washington\u2019s choice with the No. 18 overall pick and is the first Finn selected by the Capitals since Oskar Osala in the fourth round in 2006.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCapitals draft 17-year-old Oliver Suvanto from Finland with first-round pick - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5321\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Capitals draft 17-year-old Oliver Suvanto from Finland with first-round pick - 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