Heikki Ruohonen

May 2026 — Ruohonen finished his Harvard freshman year with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 20 NCAA games, centering an all-rookie line alongside Aidan Lane and Richard Gallant, and backed it with a strong World Juniors. Named an alternate captain for Finland, he shared the team scoring lead heading into the medal round. The NCAA total is modest, but the underlying game is the draw. He is a two-way center who drives play, pushes the pace, and has power forward qualities, using explosive weight shifts to beat defenders to the inside and contact to win body positioning. That profile projects as a genuine top-nine option rather than a tweener, and Philadelphia paid for it, packaging a pair of picks to move up into the fourth round. For fantasy, the upside is a middle-six center who chips in secondary scoring and peripherals such as hits and faceoffs, not a power-play driver. The offense needs another gear for that to land, specifically a quicker release and more consistent half-wall production at five-on-five. A sophomore season at Harvard with a scoring-line role and a points-per-game climb toward 0.9 would be the signal that the tools are converting. Andrew Epps