As an NHL prospect, Heikki Ruohonen must devote a lot of his time to the rink.

But as an NHL prospect studying at Harvard, he also visits another place quite a bit. It’s not as cold and it’s significantly quieter.

“Some late nights in the library,” Ruohonen said, “but that’s what you sign up for.”

Especially with an Ivy League course load. All while balancing Division I hockey.

“It’s definitely manageable, but it takes some time to get used to, for sure,” the Flyers’ 2024 fourth-round pick said in June. “There are definitely easier classes and then there are harder classes, so you have to allocate your time. You have to think about how to use your time. You definitely don’t have a lot of free time every day.”

Despite the rigors of studying at Harvard, Ruohonen made some good strides on the ice last season. As a freshman, he was tied for third on the Crimson in points with 19 over 28 games. He had six goals and 13 assists. One of his goals came on the power play and another was at shorthanded.

The 20-year-old center also led Team Finland with nine points (three goals, six assists) over seven games at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

“I saw that he got incredible opportunity at school playing a lot of minutes in a lot of different situations,” Patrick Sharp, a special advisor to the Flyers’ hockey operations department, said in July. “He touched the puck a lot, he played the power play, he was a valuable penalty killer.

“He was excellent for Team Finland at the world juniors. I saw him last year, he was much better this year. He does the small details right. He’s an easy guy to like from a coaching standpoint. He’s strong in the defensive zone and he competes hard in the faceoff circle.”

Ruohonen was second on Harvard in faceoff wins. He has a trustworthy game down the middle. While Ruohonen would like to work on scoring from different areas of the ice, he doesn’t want to lose the foundation of his game.

“It’s a little harder and points might not come every night because you play so responsibly defensively, but that’s winning hockey,” Ruohonen said. “It’s not just about you and your points.

“I’ve always thought of playing offense from underneath the play, being more of a creator. Because when you’re in the D-zone, you’re playing low, but the offense kind of starts with you usually. So just not stealing the play or anything like that.”

Heikki Ruohonen goes bar down off a pass from Ilya Pautov.

Ruohonen is a 2024 fourth-round center who played at Harvard last season. pic.twitter.com/kIqS29NEmu

— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) June 30, 2026

Ruohonen, who’s studying government (also considered political science), doesn’t have a set plan for when he’ll aim to turn pro. He said he was “super excited” for his second season at Harvard, which named Rob Rassey as its new head coach.

“I’ve just thought that I’m going to go wherever I’m going to develop the most,” Ruohonen said. “I feel like, for next year at least, that’s going to be at Harvard. With the new coaching staff and from listening to what our new head coach has been saying, it’s going to be a lot of focus on development.”

And Ruohonen will probably have some more trips to the library.

“I think he’s in a really good spot at Harvard,” Sharp said. “He’s mature, he’s responsible, he’s a smart kid, clearly. He’s in a perfect spot to develop, so we’re happy that he’s with us. He’s one of those players that you can probably play with anybody on any line. … He’s going to help that line produce and do the little things for them.”