Team Finland has officially announced its roster for the upcoming Olympics, and rookie Oliver Kapanen got confirmation that he would be playing for his country, just like Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki.
While Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield had their Olympic dream crushed by the Team USA roster announcement on Friday morning, Montreal Canadiens’ rookie Oliver Kapanen got confirmation that he would be playing for Finland in the upcoming Olympics. Shortly after the Americans announced their roster, the Finns announced theirs, and there are no big surprises on there.
In net, Juuse Saros, Kevin Lankinen and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be backstopping the defending champions, who triumphed in Beijing without NHLers playing. On the blueline, Miro Heiskanen, Henri Jokiharju, Mikko Lehtonen, Esa Lindell, Olli Maatta, Nikolas Matinpalo, Niko Mikola and Rasmus Ristolainen were selected. Up front, Kapanen will be joined by former Habs Joel Armia and Artturi Lehkonen, Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Roope Hintz, Kaapo Kakko, Joel Kiviranta, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Mikko Rantanen, Teuvo Teravainen and Eeli Tolvanen.
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Unlike at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Patrik Laine didn’t make the cut. This is hardly surprising, as he is still recovering from core muscle surgery, and he was only able to play five games this season before being ruled out.
As for Kapanen, his inclusion is far from surprising given how well his rookie season is going. The 22-year-old might have landed the second-line center spot by default in Montreal, but he has proven up to the task so far this season. Since Juraj Slafkovsky has joined him and fellow rookie Ivan Demidov, they have formed the Canadiens’ most threatening line. This role has long been played by Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and the aforementioned Slafkovsky.
In 40 games, the Finnish rookie has 21 points, on pace for 43, a vast improvement from the two points he had in 18 NHL games last season. Kapanen currently leads the goal-scoring race for rookies with 12, tied with Anaheim Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke. The centerman plays a solid two-way game; he is so defensively responsible that Martin St-Louis didn’t hesitate to put him on his penalty killing unit this season.
He is likely to have a depth role on his national team, but his inclusion is still a massive achievement for such a young player, and the experience he’ll get in this best-on-best tournament will be absolutely priceless.
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