Liiga champions among three Finnish players picked in first round of NHL Draft

[p]The 18th pick of the first round was [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/suvanto-oliver/Op6bDeKK/"]Oliver Suvanto[/a][/b], who was selected by the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/washington-capitals/UND9nmoG/"]Washington Capitals[/a]. The 17-year-old centre played 49 times in total in the successful 2025/26 campaign for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tappara/llrWVOwG/"]Tappara[/a], registering 11 points.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/2026-nhl-draft-tracker/AFZaniPG/"]Follow the 2026 NHL Draft with Flashscore's dedicated tracker >>[/a][/b][/p][p]Selected 29th overall by the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/vegas-golden-knights/fTT0TsUg/"]Vegas Golden Knights[/a] was 17-year-old defenceman [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piiparinen-juho/fDKnq7nq/"]Juho Piiparinen[/a][/b]. The former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pelicans-lahti/nJrUIp93/"]Pelicans[/a] youth player featured 29 times in the regular season for Tappara in 2025/26, notching three assists en route to the title.[/p][embed guid="0dd539bf-9be2-4bbf-bad6-46df880b1b6c" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaUnKYWjK9k" social-type="youtube" /][p]However, the first of the Finnish players selected was someone frozen out by Liiga side [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kiekko-espoo/IVYOkYeB/"]Kiekko-Espoo[/a] in the autumn, following a contract dispute.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hemming-oscar/M1maDOvR/"]Oscar Hemming[/a][/b] was able to leave Espoo for the east coast of the United States and Boston College, where he got his stop-start season back on track, allowing the left-wing to be taken in 14th place overall by the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/columbus-blue-jackets/0vCzmbQ5/"]Columbus Blue Jackets[/a].[/p][p]Also 17, he admitted the issues with KE made things difficult, but his confidence regarding playing in the NHL has not been knocked.[/p][p][b]"It was hard at times. But my family helped a lot. I got to talk to them. They helped me through this."[/b][/p][p][b]"It would be great to try out in the NHL towards the end of next season."[/b][/p][p]The NHL Draft continues on 27th June.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/2026-nhl-draft-tracker/AFZaniPG/"]Follow the 2026 NHL Draft on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]