RW Eeli Tolvanen - Jokerit, KHL (2017, 30th, NSH)

[Lempo]

Don't think the college stuff mattered. Although, teams will always get skeptical when they hear the words going to the KHL. He is one of the few Euro-based first round picks who hasn't signed his ELC yet. Andersson, Brannstrom, Liljegren, Necas, Heiskanen, and Chytil have all signed. Pettersson, Vaakanian, and Vesalainen haven't signed yet, but Tolvanen is the only one who plays where there isn't a transfer agreement.

He said in the article I mentioned yesterday that Jokerit was the only team that gave "good package" (for the contract, whatever that means). He's looking to go to NHL, excepts "to get a good year underneart now" so probably aims to 2018-19 season.

KHL though has the thing that a player coming from there might be somewhat more prone to insist on European Assignment clause on the ELC, in which case he'd be free to go back to overseas if the team loaned him to another league (=AHL). That $70k doesn't come up to much even with the signing bonus of $92.5k on top of it.

 

[Gordian Knot]

He is the prize NSH got for reaching SC finals.

 

[Henkka]

Going to be hard for Tolvanen to stand out playing on such a trash team. Well, at least he got a tertiary assist.

Yeah...

How things can change in one week.

 

[kelsier]

That was some insane entrance. Said he might just make it but hattrick at the first game that could have as well as been 4 goal, insane.

Watched the 2nd period and he was looking pretty lethal whenever he was on the puck. Dinamo's players were sitting on the penalty box almost the entire period so was disappointed about not getting to see how he played 5 vs 5.

Anyway, that second goal was pretty nuts. Skating backwards and scoring from the long distance. That's not something every day kid would do (or even most vets for that matter). Going to tune in for the next match no doubt about it. Starting to look like the Preds lucked out big time, and that the pre-season had nothing to do with luck.

 

[Kcoyote3]

That was some insane entrance. Said he might just make it but hattrick at the first game that could have as well as been 4 goal, insane.

Watched the 2nd period and he was looking pretty lethal whenever he was on the puck. Dinamo's players were sitting on the penalty box almost the entire period so was disappointed about not getting to see how he played 5 vs 5.

Anyway, that second goal was pretty nuts. Skating backwards and scoring from the long distance. That's not something every day kid would do (or even most vets for that matter). Going to tune in for the next match no doubt about it. Starting to look like the Preds lucked out big time, and that the pre-season had nothing to do with luck.

What were his preseason stats?

 

[HockeyHistorian]

What were his preseason stats?

7 games, 3 goals, 2 assists. I think he led the team in preseason scoring.

 

[ijuka]

Yeah...

How things can change in one week.

By the way, I don't suddenly think that the team is excellent or anything. But if he can carry it, all the power to him. I don't see what's "changed" from when I typed my post. If you quoted a post where I doubted whether KHL was a good choice or whether he was good enough to make the team, I could see the reason in it.

This trend to quote old posts is really annoying, anyway.

7 games, 3 goals, 2 assists. I think he led the team in preseason scoring.

Yeah, it was a very good preseason for him. If he could actually keep that kind of a pace up throughout this season, he'd already be on pace for a KHL u19 scoring record.

 

[CPFC]

By the way, I don't suddenly think that the team is excellent or anything.

If you think that the current Jokerit roster is "trash", then you must regard almost every other KHL team as trash. That also would mean that the points scored by Tolvanen are pretty meaningless because he's playing against trashy teams.

 

[ijuka]

If you think that the current Jokerit roster is "trash", then you must regard almost every other KHL team as trash. That also would mean that the points scored by Tolvanen are pretty meaningless because he's playing against trashy teams.

They have 1 real center. They have a winger as their 2C and "mister 1+1" Pihlström being the 3C tells you all you need to know. He's a winger too.

Certainly, I'll be happy if I end up being proven wrong and they make the playoffs.

 

[SaekkiPaelli]

They have 1 real center. They have a winger as their 2C and "mister 1+1" Pihlström being the 3C tells you all you need to know. He's a winger too.

Certainly, I'll be happy if I end up being proven wrong and they make the playoffs.

They made the playoffs last year with a way worse team than this year, I should know saw 25+ games live last year and the team was pretty bad. Their defense is about 100% better this year and they actually have the possibility of having 2 scoring lines instead of 1 like last year, but I assume they will still have trouble scoring 5v5. But on the PP I think they have a good possibilities especially, if Tolvanen can keep this up and maybehe can bury a couple of rushes as well

O'Neill as 2C will only be a problem vs the high-end teams like SKA, CSKA, or jaroslav. Pihlström is far from the ideal 3C but he will have to do, huhtala will have to make up for his shortcomings on that line. Most teams dont have the perfect 3 guys down the middle either, except the previously mentioned teams and maybe some others.

 

[ijuka]

Well, it's certainly possible I overvalue the need for C depth. It's true that their D is solid. And if Tolvanen makes it to the first line, I guess it doesn't really matter for him that none of the other lines have a C.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Well, it's certainly possible I overvalue the need for C depth. It's true that their D is solid. And if Tolvanen makes it to the first line, I guess it doesn't really matter for him that none of the other lines have a C.

You seem to ignore the fact they just signed Norman who was Skelleftea's 1st line center the year before leaving to Torpedo. How in your mind he doesn't fill the 2C spot I do not know.

 

[ijuka]

You seem to ignore the fact they just signed Norman who was Skelleftea's 1st line center the year before leaving to Torpedo. How in your mind he doesn't fill the 2C spot I do not know.

That's true. Hopefully he is going to be able to handle the role of 2C. Would probably be better suited as #3.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

https://streamable.com/kmxru

All Eeli's goals.

That wrister is so sick

Not taking anything away from the kid's performance.

His shot was on display for sure. But that goaltending look weak to anyone else.

 

[ijuka]

Not taking anything away from the kid's performance.

His shot was on display for sure. But that goaltending look weak to anyone else.

Well, it's the "Toronto Maple Leafs Legend" Jhonas Enroth.

On the other hand, you probably could score a hat trick against worse goalies than one who has several years of NHL experience, from as recently as less than a year ago.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Not taking anything away from the kid's performance.

His shot was on display for sure. But that goaltending look weak to anyone else.

Not gonna lie but I remember the same mantra being said when Laine was scoring pre-NHL. We all know how it turned out to be in the end.

I don't think any of those goals were excactly weak ones. 1st goal was a pure snipe topshelf through defender. 2nd goal had four people screening the goalie (+ the shot was perfect). 3rd goal was similar to the 1st goal, a snipe through defender. As a goalie, you can't react in time to those shots if you don't see in time where they are coming from.

I think it's fair to say when you have an elite shot even by the NHL standards, you are set for scoring goals like these for the rest of your career.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

I think the only weak goal was the second one, but it looked like there was some heavy screen on Enroth. The two other goals were both very high-quality shots from a good area. Those tend to go in regardless of the goalie.

 

[monsieurthibz]

Is there anybody here who's really surprised about Tolvanen's recent success? I mean yes it's only one game and a few pre-season games, but we knew what he was capable of, and him falling this far in the draft still blows my mind.

 

[Knies iT]

Is there anybody here who's really surprised about Tolvanen's recent success? I mean yes it's only one game and a few pre-season games, but we knew what he was capable of, and him falling this far in the draft still blows my mind.

He's an undersized winger with weak skating, a few successful pre-season games doesn't erase that. He's off to a hot start but I still have my reservations with him.

 

[Fantomas]

Exciting start, but it's early. Maxim Kitsyn had an early season KHL hat trick once at 17 and then couldn't hang on to a job in the league.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

Exciting start, but it's early. Maxim Kitsyn had an early season KHL hat trick once at 17 and then couldn't hang on to a job in the league.

You're a comparing a 6th rounder to a 1st rounder. Of course Eeli isn't going to maintain even close to this scoring pace, but it's encouraging to see he can be a real scoring threat at this level early on.

 

[ijuka]

He's an undersized winger with weak skating, a few successful pre-season games doesn't erase that. He's off to a hot start but I still have my reservations with him.

You should watch some Jokerit games if you still think his skating is weak.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

You should watch some Jokerit games if you still think his skating is weak.

He is actually pretty agile, which you can see especially when he's moving around PP. He has decent speed. I wouldn't call him a weak skater, but it isn't really a strength.

 

[Scorcho]

Nsh got another god one.

 

[Fantomas]

You're a comparing a 6th rounder to a 1st rounder. Of course Eeli isn't going to maintain even close to this scoring pace, but it's encouraging to see he can be a real scoring threat at this level early on.

Actually Kitsyn was draft-eligible when he scored his hat trick, which underscores my point - what he did was even more impressive. He was seen as a potential top-5 selection, but then things went south for him.