- Capitals first-rounder Oliver Suvanto says he wants to play “big and mean” in the NHL
- Assistant GM Ross Mahoney sees the 6-foot-3 Finn as a second-line center in the near future
- Read below for the combine interview video and what NHL scouts compared him to
Oliver Suvanto wants to be big and mean. He told the Washington Capitals as much before they ever drafted him.
Amateur scout A.J. Toews put the question to the 6-foot-3, 207-pound forward at the NHL Draft Combine, asking whether he enjoys the physical part of the game, per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. Washington used the No. 18 pick on him a few weeks later.
“Yeah, (it makes me) really happy. I think I noticed it a few years back that I’m a big, strong guy and I can use it as a strength. All of you know that playing hockey against the big guy who (plays physically), it makes you feel uncomfortable. So, I want to be that guy.”
“I want to be big and mean.”
The Capitals posted that interview after making the pick. Watch Suvanto lay it out:
Suvanto does not turn 18 until Sept. 3, and he is already 207 pounds. He wants more of it.
The Turku, Finland, native talked about his off-ice work at Washington’s development camp earlier this month.
“Just 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.”
That temperament lands in the right room. Eight forwards on Washington’s current roster stand 6-3 or taller, a group that runs from Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson through Alex Tuch, Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois and both Protas brothers.
Wilson is the obvious model, and Suvanto has watched a lot of him. Copying the whole act is another matter.
“He’s a great player, but he’s maybe too tough for me,” Suvanto said.
Assistant general manager Ross Mahoney sees Suvanto “being a second-line center for us in the near future.” Mahoney said the teenager spent most of last season on the left wing in Liiga but centered his own age group, so the position is not wishful thinking.
His raw totals look modest until you add the context. Suvanto had 11 points in 48 games against grown men with Tappara, the most by any player 17 or younger in Liiga, and NHL Central Scouting ranked him third among International skaters on its final list.
Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen, the NHL’s director of European scouting, went a step further and called him “the most complete and mature 17-year-old center seen in Liiga since Aleksander Barkov.”
Washington signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on July 14 and immediately loaned him back to Tappara, where he has one year left on his club deal. Here is the announcement:
All of it traces to a Friday night in Buffalo. Check out the Capitals’ video from the draft floor:
Camp in Arlington gave the 17-year-old his first look at the building he is chasing.
“You look at the rink, look at the locker rooms, it’s just amazing,” Suvanto said. “Couldn’t believe that it was possible to be in this kind of organization. Just honored to be here and just having fun.”
