Get to know Vilho Vanhatalo, the newest Ottawa 67’s import pick
Vilho Vanhatalo brings a lot to the table.
He’s a big body, a former captain, has pro experience, is a two-time champion, an NHL draft pick, and now a member of the Ottawa 67’s.
The 67’s selected the Tampere, FIN, right winger with the 52nd overall pick in the 2026 CHL Import Draft. At 6-foot-4, he’d be amongst the team’s tallest players on last year’s squad, only surpassed by Zach Houben and David Bedkowski, who both stand at 6-foot-6.
Vanhatalo, 18, is coming off a 19-point season with Tappara’s Under-20 system, where he scored 10 goals and nine assists over 38 regular-season games.
The youngster would suit up for eight games and net an assist with the men’s team, Tappara Tampere, which is partly owned by fellow Tampere-born hockey player Aleksander Barkov, the captain of the Florida Panthers.
He’d return to the Under-20 circuit for the playoffs, leading his team in points with 12 across 13 games.
His strong play in the back half of the season would place him 79th in EliteProspects’ 2026 NHL Draft Guide.
“He has the ideal power forward frame combined with projectable quickness and footspeed, along with a powerful shot that uses from every distance.” – EliteProspects Draft Guide.
With pick No. 168, Vanhatalo would fall into the paws of the Panthers, joining Barkov.
Despite the connection to Barkov, he said at the NHL draft that he models his game after Matthew Knies of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“He is a power forward just like me. He has a good shot and a lot of scoring skills. He is a good role model for me,” he said to Teemu Suvinen of Ilta-Sanomat.
The hockey connections are strong in the Vanhatalo family, with two older brothers active in the sport.
Lassi, 28, is his biggest role model. The 6-foot-7 winger has been a longtime pro in Finland, with the 6-foot-7 winger suiting up in 260 games across nine seasons in Liiga, even serving as an assistant captain for Vaasan Sport in 2022-23.
Miika, 30, has been much more hands-on with Vilho’s development, having coached him at the Under-16 and Under-18 levels. He head-coached Tappara’s Under-16 team, which Vilho would later captain, to a league title before both moved to the Under-18 squad, with Miika joining the championship-winning team as an assistant coach in 2024-25.
That season, Vilho led the Finnish Under-18 league in goals with 37 across just 41 games, while scoring 10 goals in 12 games in the playoffs.
Vanhatalo is set to join returners Ondrej Ruml (Colorado Avalanche) and Filip Ekberg (Carolina Hurricanes) as the team’s three imports for the 2026-27 season.
