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

[ThirdManIn]

He was busy playing in Toronto.

Sounds like an excuse to me. The guy can turn shacks into saunas and can't play two games at once on the same continent?

 

[hockey diva]

He seemed to have a deer in the headlights look.

 

[maplepred]

He seemed to have a deer in the headlights look.

Was that eeli? They all seemed to have that look I couldn’t tell who was who.

 

[PredsV82]

I'll again say we absolutely wasted one of our 9 "try out" games with him. With all that went in last night there is no way to assess his performance. Get him some regular 5 on 5 and a few PP shifts and then we can see...

 

[FilthyScoresberg]

He needs to get more O-zone starts if we wanna see him flourish. At least for now. He was constantly ready to shoot, and that’s a great sign. They’ll get him the puck for sure. Everything is bound to come together. The kid didn’t look necessarily out of place. The whole team did. I didn’t see any headscratching plays from him. I paid very close attention to him every time he was on the ice. He just needs to figure out exactly where he needs to be and be a little more tenacious in puck battles. Other than that, he looked decent to me.

I was really hoping he would’ve been out there for that 4v3 with there being so much more open ice, I think he would’ve been productive there for sure.

 

[King Weber]

Eeli's post game interview at 3:07.

TL;DR is that he was pretty nervous before the game and that this was not the way he wanted to start his NHL career.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

Think he sits for a game or two after Arvi gets back or will he play out the regular season?

 

[FossilFndr]

Sit him. Period. He'll be only 19 in 3 weeks. Not sure what he brings now. Though I think if he got that first shot against Buffalo it could have loosened him up.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

So no saviour rode in on a white horse. But honestly, I'm good with him getting a look. These games don't matter a lot either way. The key is really the 9-games. You can burn 9 whether he starts to contribute or not and write it off as helping him transition, giving him a good luck at what he has to work on over the summer, and that's all going to be a net positive no matter what.

Just, you can't go over the 9 games if he isn't able to step it up. But it's early days even on that limit. 3 more games to finish the season, one step at a time.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

In my mind you let him finish the regular season, and then you have few games if you need him for the playoffs without burning his ELC. He made big improvements in just 1 game and looked more comfortable in his 2nd game.

 

[SauceMyBiscuit]

He had trouble creating seperation with/without the puck, which is to be expected in the NHL. If he’s paired with a smart player who can get him the puck in space, he should do fine. I would keep him in until we absolutely need our best roster. He’s probably going to play at some point in the playoffs when someone inevidently gets hurt.

 

[herzausstein]

Big improvement from the first game. Keep letting him play. Get him the NHL and playoff experience (without burning a contract year). I think once we have a full team again with jarnkrok and rv he will pick things up. A line of et bones krok could be pretty good. This will also give the coach and Poile a good look at him so they can give him a proper list of things to work on in the offseason

 

[Legionnaire11]

I'd like to give him a game or two to watch from the press box, let Poile and whoever the scratches are have his ear to analyze the game, get him some more quality time in practice and then back into the lineup to see what he absorbed and the adjustments he makes.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

The Tolvanen hot takes on the mainboard are a little out of control. He hasn't stood out but he hasn't had any major screw ups either.

 

[Pred303]

no. but the finn starting a thread saying tolvanen was the next great goalscorer in this league and would lead the preds to the cup just asked for disaster.

 

[DaJackal]

I would give him the last 3 reg season games in top 6 role and rest one of the key guys. This would:

a) Give him more time to adjust to NHL game and find his confidence
b) Protect the top players from getting injured right before the meaningful games start
c) Get him more ready IF so many injuries happen that they need him in the playoffs. I don't think saving games and then throwing a rookie with less than half an hour of NHL icetime in the middle of playoffs is a good idea.

 

[wadesworld]

I would give him the last 3 reg season games in top 6 role and rest one of the key guys. This would:

a) Give him more time to adjust to NHL game and find his confidence
b) Protect the top players from getting injured right before the meaningful games start
c) Get him more ready IF so many injuries happen that they need him in the playoffs. I don't think saving games and then throwing a rookie with less than half an hour of NHL icetime in the middle of playoffs is a good idea.

I would agree. Hopefully the coaches do too.

 

[ViperXX79]

His time has been limited because of all the penalties. He hasn't had that much PP time either. If we can stay out of the box for more than a few minutes maybe we can actually see what he has to offer.

 

[Armourboy]

He just needs time to adjust to the speed and physical play that is the NHL. Wouldn't bother me to sit him for a game to take it in a bit and then give him another go. If it still seems to be too much then you let him sit and you have some things for him to work on.

 

[Drake744]

A lot of his hype was centered around being a weapon on the power play. We've only had 3 real power plays in the 2 games he's played.

 

[Merya]

I did warn you guys. Hate to be right. Zero shots on goal in two games is really worrying for me.

As for the comments on KHL, that league had nothing to do with Tolvanen release. It was a clause in the contract that Jokerit gave, like they will give every Finnish player in one form or another. Jokerit isn't a prison, Jokerit is a good bouncing board for NHL dreams and pretty unique place for European players who are aspiring for the biggest league. (Also unfortunately for those going for Russian millions. :/ )

 

[NoNecksCurse]

it's been 2 games. you aren't right about anything. i think most of us had level-headed expectations. if he doesn't hit his stride at some point, he won't play over 9 games and he will have a list of things to work on for next year.

 

[MrJoshua]

Forsberg was 20 before he managed to stick full-time with the big club. It's not going to limit my optimism toward ET if he needs some time in the AHL to round out his game and work with the Preds' training staff to gain some strength and a little more size. He's 18. Let him develop. He's nice to have on the team as additional depth right now and to give him a taste. Now if he keeps working hard like he has been to get this far, he'll be fine. He has the talent. If he keeps up the drive he's shown so far, he'll be on the big team when he's ready.

 

[Drake744]

 

[Flgatorguy87]

This site is unbearable sometimes with the stupidity. Like banging your head against a wall.