Oliver Kapanen (born 29 July 2003) is a Swedish-born Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). He was selected in the second round, 64th overall, by the Canadiens in the 2021 NHL entry draft.

Playing career

Kapanen was drafted in the second round, 64th overall, by the

of the

(NHL) in the 2021 NHL entry draft. He made his professional debut for

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

during the 2021–22 season. Following three seasons with KalPa, Kapanen opted to continue his development in the neighbouring

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL), joining

Timrå IK Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous sea ...

on a two-year contract on 9 May 2024. On 15 June 2024, Kapanen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Canadiens. Thereafter, Kapanen was named to the Canadiens' opening night roster for the 2024–25 season. After being a

healthy scratch This is a list of common terms used in the sport of ice hockey along with the definitions of these terms. 0-9 A B C ...

for the first game of the season, he made his NHL debut on 10 October, replacing Emil Heineman on the team's fourth line. He recorded an assist on Josh Anderson's third period goal for his first career NHL point. Following 12 appearances with Montreal, Kapanen was loaned back to Timrå IK on 6 November 2024. Appearing in 36 regular season games with the foregoing, registering 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points, he would rejoin the Canadiens on 2 April 2025. A month later, following his team's elimination from the

2025 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs is the Stanley Cup playoffs, playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2024–25 NHL season, 2024–25 season. The playoffs began on April 19, 2025, and will conclude no later than June 20, 2025, ...

, Kapanen was assigned to their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Laval Rocket The Laval Rocket () are a professional ice hockey team based in Laval, Quebec. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Trois-Rivières Lions of the ECHL. The Rocket play ...

, for the duration of the Calder Cup playoffs. He scored his first AHL goal, the game-winner, in the opening contest of the North Division Final against the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

on 14 May.

International play

Kapanen first represented his country as part of their national under-18 team at the

2021 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2021 IIHF World U18 Championship was the 22nd such IIHF World U18 Championship, event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams would have participated at several levels of competition. The competition also would have served a ...

where he appeared in four games. He likewise represented the Finnish national junior team at the

2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2022 WJHC'') was the 46th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, held from 9 to 20 August 2022 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The tournament was originally schedul ...

winning a silver medal, and again in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. In May 2024, Kapanen made his senior debut for the Finland national team at the

IIHF World Championship The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey tour ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, recording a team-leading six goals in tournament play.

Personal life

Kapanen comes from a hockey playing family. He is the grandson of former professional hockey player

Hannu Kapanen Hannu Mauri Antero Kapanen (born March 13, 1951, in Kontiolahti, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for Jokerit and HIFK. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005. Han ...

and the son of

Kimmo Kapanen Kimmo Kapanen (born September 12, 1974) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently working as the sporting director of Oulun Kärpät. Kapanen played for several Finnish teams during his career including Ässät, ...

. He is the great-nephew of ,

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

Sami Kapanen Sami Hannu Antero Kapanen (born 14 June 1973) is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. He played 12 NHL seasons for the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers. He is the majority owner of ...

and

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

Kasperi Kapanen Samu Kasperi Kapanen (born 23 July 1996) is a Finnish professional ice hockey right wing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He made his Liiga debut playing with KalPa during the 2012–13 SM-liiga season. Kapanen was se ...

and .

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapanen, Oliver 2003 births Living people Finnish ice hockey centres Iisalmen Peli-Karhut players Jokipojat players KalPa players Laval Rocket players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players Oulun Kärpät players People from Timrå Municipality 21st-century Finnish sportsmen