Ville Ottavainen

Ville Ottavainen (born 12 August 2002) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect under contract to the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 99th overall in the 2021 NHL entry draft by the Kraken.

Playing career Ottavainen originally played as a junior hockey with Oulun Kärpät through to the under-18 level before moving to North America to play major junior hockey with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the 2019–20 season.

With the following 2020–21 season postponed and later cancelled, Ottavainen remained in Finland and played on loan from the Rangers with JYP Jyväskylä of the Liiga. He played 22 games and put up 3 points. He was moved to play for KeuPa HT in Mestis for 2 games, posting 2 points. He secured a three-year contract extension on 23 March 2021.

Concluding his North American junior career, and following his selection in the fourth-round 99th overall by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL entry draft, Ottavainen continued his tenure with JYP in the 2021–22 season.

Following completion of the 2022–23 season, having set career bests of 11 assist and 16 points through 54 regular season games, Ottavainen activated his NHL out-clause in signing a three-year, entry-level contract with his draft club, the Seattle Kraken, on 20 March 2023.

International play Ottavainen originally made his full junior debut for Team Finland at the 2022 World Junior Championships, appearing in 1 game, before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He did not feature for Finland in the replay of the tournament, expunging his statistics.

Personal life Ottavainen's father Risto Ottavainen is a retired hockey player who last played for Kiekko-Oulu in 2003.

Career statistics Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2019–20 Kitchener Rangers OHL 53 4 11 15 20 — — — — — 2020–21 JYP U20 SM 15 7 8 15 16 — — — — — 2020–21 JYP Liiga 22 1 2 3 10 — — — — — 2020–21 KeuPa HT Mestis 2 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 2021–22 JYP Liiga 44 6 8 14 59 — — — — — 2022–23 JYP Liiga 54 5 11 16 30 — — — — — 2022–23 Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2023–24 Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL 70 8 26 34 30 18 0 3 3 24 2024–25 Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL 68 3 12 15 41 6 0 2 2 4 2024–25 Seattle Kraken NHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2025–26 Coachella Valley Firebirds AHL 53 3 14 17 71 12 1 3 4 10 Liiga totals 120 12 21 33 99 — — — — — NHL totals 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —