The Washington Capitals selected Oliver Suvanto with the 18th overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Suvanto is a Finnish center drafted from Tappara in Liiga, Finland’s top professional league. He is set to return to Tappara for the 2026-27 campaign.
Capitals select Oliver Suvanto with 18th overall pick in 2026 NHL Draft
Suvanto is a big forward, checking in at 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds. The 17-year-old Finn played the majority of his 2025-26 season (48 games) with Tappara against men. He recorded 11 points (2g, 9a) in those games, the top mark from any under-18 player. At the most recent World Juniors, he was named one of Finland’s top three players after posting two goals in seven games.
The Turku native is one of the youngest players in the draft class and has all of the tools to become an elite, two-way center. He is already very comfortable playing in a structured professional environment and has enough skill to set him apart from the other large centermen in his draft class. He also has great hands for a big man, loves to battle for pucks, lays the body, and drives the net.
Suvanto was the third-ranked International skater by NHL Central Scouting in this year’s draft class.
Suvanto says he models his game after his idol, fellow Finnish center Aleksander Barkov, who is the captain of the Florida Panthers. The two trained together as Barkov prepared to play for Finland at the 2026 World Championship.
“For sure he is (my idol),” Suvanto told ESPN’s Leah Hextall. “Great player, great leader. He is a very respected player and great role model for me. I was glad that he gave me a chance to do some faceoffs with him, and obviously, he taught me a few things, and I was like a little kid, listening to all the advice he gave to me.”
The Capitals went 20 years between drafting a player from Finland, last doing so in 2006 when they picked up Oskar Osala in the fourth round. With the selection of Suvanto, they broke a streak of taking a winger in the first round four years in a row.
