ARLINGTON, VA — 2026 first-round pick Oliver Suvanto is still startstruck by the NHL.
Four days after Washington drafted him 18th overall, Suvanto hit the ice on Tuesday for the first day of Capitals Development Camp. Suvanto is no stranger to professional hockey after spending most of last season playing for Liiga’s Tappara in Finland, but that experience hardly compared to a taste of the NHL.
Not even the 90-degree Virginia heat outside of MedStar Capitals Iceplex dampened Suvanto’s enthusiasm.
“Just look at the rink, look at the locker rooms,” he said. “It’s just amazing. I couldn’t believe that it would be possible to be in this kind of organization. Just honored to be here, and just having fun.”
The Capitals have already welcomed Suvanto into the fold. He told reporters Tuesday that several players reached out in the days after the draft, including recent acquisition Alex Tuch.
“I got a message from Alex Tuch, Tom Wilson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and [Charlie] Lindgren,” he said. “That was unbelievable. Couldn’t have imagined that I can get a message from that kind of guy. So, yeah, it was unbelievable.”
Also a new experience for Suvanto? An intense session with Capitals skating coach Wendy Marco, which kicked off prospect’s on-ice activities for the week. Besides more typical drills, players took part in tricky edgework exercises and at one point pushed tires across the ice.
“That was tough, yeah,” Suvanto said of the skating lesson. “Never done that kind of drills before, so it was tough, and hard for legs, too.”
While Suvanto may have a happy-go-lucky attitude off the ice, little of that bleeds through into his play. He told the Capitals at the NHL Combine that the physical part of the game makes him “really happy.”
“Playing hockey against a big guy who tackles much, it makes you feel uncomfortable,” he said then. “So I want to be that guy. I want to be big and mean.”
At age 17, Suvanto is already one of the biggest players at this week’s camp, clocking in at 6’3” and 213 pounds. He noted Tuesday that that height comes from his mother; his father measures a comparatively diminutive 176 cm (5’9”).
Jokingly asked if he drank much milk as a child, Suvanto quipped, “We do that a lot in Finland.”
Suvanto, already under contract to return to Tappara next season, will look to get even stronger as he develops.
“I like to be the big and mean guy,” he said Tuesday. “(I plan) just to get more muscles. It just helps a lot in the battles. I like to finish hits, so probably that’s one thing, I’m trying to also maybe utilize it in an NHL rink too. I’m 17 still, so probably just get more strength and utilize it more.”
He noted that he only started leaning into his physicality within the last few years, around the time of his latest growth spurt.
“Probably two years ago,” Suvanto said. “I noticed that I’m one of the biggest guys in my age. So using strength can make the difference in my style of hockey. (I) just started using that, and then noticed that the players don’t like to play against me sometimes.”
The Capitals have several players Suvanto can look to as he grows into his game. Both Aliaksei Protas and Ilya Protas clock in three inches taller than Suvanto, and the 17-year-old prospect called them “great role model(s).”
Meanwhile, Tom Wilson’s combination of scoring talent and physicality has made him into an Olympic-caliber player. Suvanto has watched his play “quite a bit,” although he — unlike another 2026 first-round pick — has no interest dropping the gloves with Wilson.
“He’s a great player, but he’s maybe too tough for a fight,” Suvanto said.
Suvanto knows he has work to do before he’s ready for the NHL. But for now he’s taking the time to soak the experience in, hopefully get in a little sightseeing between skating sessions, and try to beat Washington’s heat wave.
“I was worrying in Buffalo that I don’t have enough hoodies and trousers with me, but seems like I don’t need it here,” he said.
