In a video of the interview the Capitals posted on X after selecting Suvanto with the No. 18 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, amateur scout A.J. Toews asked the 6-foot-3, 207-pound forward if he enjoys the physical part of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, (it makes me) really happy,\u201d Suvanto replied. \u201cI think I noticed it a few years back that I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be big and mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suvanto won\u2019t turn 18 until Sept. 3, so he might continue to grow and plans to work off the ice to get stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust get more muscles,\u201d the Turku, Finland, native said at the Capitals\u2019 development camp earlier this month. \u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m only 17 still, so probably just get more strength and utilize more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suvanto\u2019s size and attitude toward physicality fit well with the kind of heavy team Washington wants to be. The Capitals\u2019 current roster includes eight forwards 6-3 or taller: Alex Ovechkin<\/a> (6-3, 238), Tom Wilson<\/a> (6-4, 225), Alex Tuch<\/a> (6-4, 219), Dylan Strome<\/a> (6-4, 200), Aliaksei Protas<\/a> (6-6, 250), Ilya Protas<\/a> (6-6, 225), Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> (6-4, 220) and Josh Dunne<\/a>\u00a0(6-4, 208).<\/p>\n Suvanto said he\u2019s watched Wilson, the Washington forward who probably best embodies being big and mean, \u201cquite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s a great player, but he’s maybe too tough for me,\u201d Suvanto said.<\/p>\n Suvanto believes he\u2019s most effective, though, when he utilizes his size and strength to his advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m one of the biggest guys my age, so usually that’s a strength that can make the difference in my style of hockey,\u201d he said. \u201cJust started using that and then noticed that the players don\u2019t like to play against me sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n Suvanto\u2019s size and physicality were among the things the Capitals liked about him, but he also filled an organizational need. Assistant general manager Ross Mahoney said they envision him \u201cbeing a second-line center for us in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n Suvanto, who was No. 3 on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of International skaters, had 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 48 games last season playing against men with Tappara in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. His 11 points were the most by a player 17 or younger playing in Liiga.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a video of the interview the Capitals posted on X after selecting Suvanto with the No. 18…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-841732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}