Join the huddle. Sign up here for Ravens updates in your inbox.

With their remaining first-round pick in the NHL draft, the Washington Capitals added center Oliver Suvanto.

Suvanto, the 18th overall pick Friday night, is a 17-year-old from Turku, Finland. At 6-foot-3, 213 pounds, he is a big, tough player who steps up in the moment. ESPN analysts compared him to Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, whom Suvanto described as his “big idol.”

Suvanto most recently played for Tappara in Finland’s Liiga and had two goals and nine assists in 48 games, which led all players under 18. Suvanto played just three games in Finland’s junior league, Tappara U20, before moving to the top professional league.

Advertise with us

“Obviously it’s tough, the battles against the men,” Suvanto told NHL.com. “I jumped from the U-18 level to Liiga almost like without any games in U-20, so of course it was new and tough in the beginning, but I think with my big size, I did well in that. ... I think it was kind of 10 games, and then I got a kind of confidence to try new things and try to move with the puck and try to do my own things.”

Suvanto, 17, was one of the youngest players in the draft. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Despite his size, Suvanto has skating skills, awareness and finesse with the puck. According to NHL central scouting, Suvanto’s size and balance make him excellent at faceoffs, battles and defensive coverage. He got tips from Barkov when he skated with him ahead of the 2026 IIHF World Championship.

“A natural two-way player, he combines reliability and intelligence, rarely making mistakes while consistently supporting both ends of the ice,” NHL Director of European Scouting Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen said.

However, he needs to get stronger and work on his skating to play at the NHL level. There are conflicting scouting reports and projections, but he was one of the youngest players in the draft and has room to grow.

The Capitals entered the week with two first-round picks, No. 16 and No. 18. However, they traded the 16th pick, along with a prospect and center Connor McMichael, to the St. Louis Blues for center Jordan Kyrou.

Advertise with us

In what might have been Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin’s last season, the team missed the playoffs. However, Ovechkin has not announced if he is retiring or returning to D.C. for another run at the Stanley Cup.

The Capitals have three more picks (Nos. 112, 144, 208) in the next six rounds of the draft. Rounds 2-7 start at 11 a.m. Saturday.

This article has been updated.