The Washington Capitals announced they have signed 2026 first-round pick Oliver Suvanto to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Suvanto, taken with the 18th overall pick at the draft in Buffalo last month, will make $1.075 million in the NHL and $87,500 in the AHL. The 17-year-old Finnish center attended his first Capitals development camp earlier in July.
The Capitals plan to loan Suvanto back to Tappara, the team they drafted him from, for the 2026-27 campaign. With them, he will play a second full season in Liiga, Finland’s top pro league.
Suvanto, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 213 pounds, 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 was one of the youngest draft-eligible players in his class and was the third-ranked International skater by NHL Central Scouting. He has said 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.
Suvanto is the first Finnish player that the Capitals have drafted in 20 years, last taking Oskar Osala in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
After playing his final season in Finland, Suvanto will likely come to training camp in 2027 looking to compete for a spot with the Caps or start his North American pro career with the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
