Nikolas Matinpalo

March 2025 – A late fill-in on defense for Finland in the Four Nations Face-Off, Matinpalo was given the tough task of going against the world’s best forwards on a depleted Finnish blue line. Overall, it was a good experience for Matinpalo, showing he could compete with McDavid, Mackinnon, and Matthews. Playing on Finland’s third pairing, Matinpalo was often matched against each team’s best players. Against the USA and Canada, he got caught the odd time being indecisive on where to go in the defensive end, allowing that split second needed for the opposing players to capitalize. He finished the tournament pointless and with minus five plus-minus. Despite the poor stat line, he showed off his good skating and long stick, which allowed Matinpalo to reduce time and space for his opponents. He competes on every play and is physical in the corners and in front of the net. Despite the outcome for Matinpalo and Team Finland, this tournament proved to be a great growing opportunity for the Senators defenseman. Andrew Barrett

May 2023 – Matinpalo signed with Ottawa on a two-way contract for the 2023-2024 season. The 24-year-old played with Assat in the Liiga last season and in 41 games had seven goals and nine assists. He was invited to play for Finland at the 2023 World Championships and, in seven games, had a goal, two assists, and was a plus-five. Matinpalo did see some time on the power play with Assat and possesses good distribution skills and a decent wrist shot. His strength should be without the puck, as he has reasonable gap control and a good active stick when defending the rush or down low. The Senators will look for Matinpalo as depth on their blueline as a sixth or seventh defender or Belleville in the top four. There are some similarities between Artem Zub and Matinpalo, such as both being undrafted and brought to North America at around the same age. Grant Campbell