Finland’s Oliver Kapanen to play against Canada; Eeli Tolvanen out
The Finnish men’s Olympic hockey team is making a change ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal game against Canada.
Forward Oliver Kapanen will draw into the lineup, while forward Eeli Tolvanen will be out.
Sam Bennett will return to Canada's lineup, skating alongside Brandon Hagel and Brad Marchand. Sam Reinhart will be Canada's 13th forward. No Eeli Tolvanen for Finland, with Oliver Kapanen drawing back in. #Olympics
Kapanen, 22, has played just one game in the tournament so far, and has yet to register a point.
He is in the midst of his first full-time NHL season with the Montreal Canadiens. In 57 games played, he has 18 goals and 13 assists for 31 points.
This is Kapanen’s first time representing his country at the Olympics. He did play for Finland at the IIHF World Championships, where he scored six goals and no assists in eight games. He also played at the 2022 and 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships, serving as Finland’s captain in the latter tournament.
Tolvanen, 26, has played all four of Finland’s games in the Olympics so far, registering a goal and no assists.
With the Seattle Kraken in the NHL this season, he has played 55 games and notched 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points.
Tolvanen does have previous Olympic experience, as he played for Finland at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, putting up three goals and six assists for nine points. He also represented his country at the 2018 and 2025 IIHF World Championships, and at the 2017, 2018, and 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships.
There has been no reported injury or illness for Tolvanen, so Finnish head coach Antti Pennanen could be making the swap to get Kapanen’s goal-scoring ability into the lineup in an attempt to keep up with the high-powered Canadian offense.
Tolvanen had been playing on Finland’s fourth line along with Erik Haula and Joel Armia, but we’ll see if Kapanen simply takes his spot in the lineup or assumes another role within the team.