Prospect Info: At 30th Overall the Predators Select Eeli Tolvanen

[King Weber]

 

[Legionnaire11]

That's a long break between rounds! But I think the Eastern series are still going for a few more days?

 

[BigFatCat999]

The case against bringing in Tolvanen.

I'm bored and I'm in a stats class where the professor says I have a C and I could just walk out. (My first inclination was to tell him to go F himself and watch me get an A, but he's a good guy from Taiwan.).

So, I look at the Preds and I wonder, 'Does this team desperately need Tolvanen in the line up?' This is a balanced team which has won 10 games in a row at 90%. The Preds played their 4th line 1st line minutes and won vs. NHL competition. I have seen Poile gild the lily with Radulov. I felt the team was wonderful and they added Radulov. Am I saying Tolvanen will do the same? Nope. But, I'm not sure you can put him directly into the line-up. There is this expectation that he would instantly go into the top 6.

I looked at the predominate KHL players who left Siberia and became black aces for their teams: Tarasenko and Kuzntesov In their black ace years they averaged .5 to .53 points per game. Using this as a scale Tolvanen in his black ace year would be slightly better than Jarnkrok. If I was to properly gauge where he would be on the 3rd line like this: Jarnkrok-Bonino/Sissons-Tolvanen.

I won't lie, I'm in the boat of put the kid in Milwaukee and help them out. They more need a defenseman but if you can outscore everyone, why not?

Short term, this team is stacked. This team really does not need Tolvanen. It needs to end this F'ing regular season to end and get to the playoffs.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Everyone assumes our lineup will be healthy and consistent for the remainder of the year. Having a Tolvanen to play for 9 games could be valuable for injury depth or for someone who needs to sit for a bit due to under performing.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

He's a lock to be played this season but usage will vary. Poile wouldn't have said it as clearly as he did otherwise and he didn't even mention AHL as a possibility in the presser held after tdl ending.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

I don't think Tolvanen would sign if he was going to be put in Milwaukee. Might as well stay in Finland if you're not going to the NHL right away.

 

[jalperi]

I don't think Tolvanen would sign if he was going to be put in Milwaukee. Might as well stay in Finland if you're not going to the NHL right away.

You mean this season? After Jokerit ends their season Tolvanen goes To NA or will play on worlds.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

You mean this season? After Jokerit ends their season Tolvanen goes To NA or will play on worlds.

Yeah, this season. He's not signing with the team so he can go play in the minors.

 

[Legionnaire11]

There is no case against bringing Tolvanen to Nashville. Even if he doesn't play in a single game it's still a bonus to get him over and acclimated to the NHL.

 

[jalperi]

Yeah, this season. He's not signing with the team so he can go play in the minors.

Why don't? There is nothing to lose if he don't play more than 9 games on NHL.

 

[Merya]

No but he might commit a suicide shortly after. Seven bullet wounds in his back. Open & shut case, Johnson!

Don't forget the crack! Or pcp

e: I don't think it would be wise for Tolvanen to play in NA this season. World Champs would be lighter and wiser considering the future. You risk his next season or perhaps entire development if you rush him in.

Why don't? There is nothing to lose if he don't play more than 9 games on NHL.

For the team. For him there is everything to lose. Finns also like to play in the national team.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

So...this came up on the prospect boards...do you guys think he'll play RW when he gets to Nashville? Your LW is quite stacked.

 

[RomanEmpire]

So...this came up on the prospect boards...do you guys think he'll play RW when he gets to Nashville? Your LW is quite stacked.

Yeah I assume you could slide Smith down to 3RW.

JOFA
Fiala Turris Tolvanen
Jarnkrok Bonino Smith


That’s a really solid top 9. Or you could slot him with Johansen & Forsberg. He’d be a perfect match with Johansen’s playmaking ability. There’s really a lot of options & Laviolette could experiment with it next season. If he debuts during the playoffs though I’m assuming he’ll be the 2 or 3 RW.

 

[Legionnaire11]

So...this came up on the prospect boards...do you guys think he'll play RW when he gets to Nashville? Your LW is quite stacked.

Why wouldn't he? He is a RW, you post videos of all his goals and he is playing RW in all of them.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Why wouldn't he? He is a RW, you post videos of all his goals and he is playing RW in all of them.

He's LW, actually. Even i had to check it and yep. Even in the Jokerit line ups he's marked as the LW. What happens of course is that he starts LW and shifts to RW in the offensive zone.

 

[triggrman]

In the Olympics he played rw too.

 

[Pred303]

i'm guessing he's a natural LW who plays on the right side of the PP for his one timer ability, which is where we mainly see highlights from.

 

[ThirdManIn]

Don't forget the crack! Or pcp

e: I don't think it would be wise for Tolvanen to play in NA this season. World Champs would be lighter and wiser considering the future. You risk his next season or perhaps entire development if you rush him in.



For the team. For him there is everything to lose. Finns also like to play in the national team.

There's a gulf of difference between bringing him over to see if he can help an already stacked team and rushing him. Rushing him would be throwing him into the mix, particularly in the top 6, not giving him ice time with purpose (e.g. giving him more defensive zone starts than he needs right now, playing him in the PK, ignoring fatigue to keep him on the same line all game), and basically not tailoring his opportunities to his skill set and needs with regard to further development.

Just bringing him over to give him a shot doesn't have to include all of those things, and Laviolette has a strong record of nurturing young, offensively-gifted forwards. If there's any team to trust to not rush a kid like Tolvanen it's Nashville, particularly this season when they don't actually need him to be anything more than another threat.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

So just to bring this back up from September and to kind of dispel that he'll pretty much only sit on the circle for one timers and he'll need to create space and all that other stuff, he's actually pretty good at creating space by himself.

 

[SauceMyBiscuit]

i'm guessing he's a natural LW who plays on the right side of the PP for his one timer ability, which is where we mainly see highlights from.

This is correct. Lots of people think he’s a RW because of all his highlights on the PP. He’s played LW in the KHL and olympics.

 

[Pred303]

which, down the road might present some line questions with our youth on the LW with Forsberg and Fiala. one of these guys will wind up as our 3rd line LW or we try to convert one of them to a RW down the line (Forsberg?). it's a question, but a good question to have as far as questions go.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

which, down the road might present some line questions with our youth on the LW with Forsberg and Fiala. one of these guys will wind up as our 3rd line LW or we try to convert one of them to a RW down the line (Forsberg?). it's a question, but a good question to have as far as questions go.

Even though Tolvanen is a better player than Forsberg was at his age I doubt he will make an impact as fast as Forsberg did, and Forsberg still had to go through a learning stretch himself.
My point is that Tolvanen won't be the player who converts Forsberg to an RW position if Tolvanen quickly becomes good enough for the top line I doubt he's knocking Forsberg in the pecking order.
In my opinion, it's reasonable that Tolvanen becomes a top 6 role player AND has a 40+ point season in his first three years.

Best case scenario is that Tolvanen is a 60+ point player after his rookie season. That would boost our depth and scoring oh so much. I don't care how much over 60+ he goes, he's instantly among our top scorers but I really doubt that would happen given our defense-driven system. And I'm naturally pessimistic towards huge point totals for Finland born players. PPG is a huge accomplishment for a Finn, that guy will be among all-time great Finnish players in an instant with 1 PPG season in the NHL. Remember that this part of my post is a pipe dream in my opinion.

 

[Legionnaire11]

If he is a LW and stays at LW, it wouldn't be the worst thing to have him or Fiala on the 3rd line and getting PP minutes. Isn't there what Winnipeg is doing with Laine right now? And we know if given the choice Lavy likes to spread the scoring threats across the lineup, so adding Tolvanen would only increase the flexibility to do that.

 

[Drake744]

I (obviously) don't know Goalvanen and I don't know his mental makeup but to be honest I'm not worried about his talent if he's here this season as much as I am about him maybe pressing a bit and putting too much pressure on himself. I could see him going a few games without scoring and maybe it gets in his head. Or maybe he's just really good and I'm being too cynical. We shall see.

I could certainly see him as a PP specialist though.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

There is no case against bringing Tolvanen to Nashville. Even if he doesn't play in a single game it's still a bonus to get him over and acclimated to the NHL.

This is the thing. There's no bringing him over to play in the AHL. Whether he can help the Preds in the playoffs or not, I have no idea. But his KHL season suggests that he's worth a look. While other guys get rests down the final stretch, take a look at him. Take a look in practices. If he's just around as a Black Ace to absorb the ambiance of the NHL team, that's fine too. Because next season it's safe to assume he's on the team. Might as well get him acclimatized now as in October/November. The more experience he gets earlier, the better. At this point, the way he has played in the KHL and Olympics, you have to take more as surprise/shock if he's not able to step right in to the NHL as opposed to thinking he is going to struggle or need time in the minors. *Maybe* next season he'll falter and need to go to the minors. Anything can happen. But right now that's gotta be an "unexpected outcome" for him.