Prospect Info: Eeli Tolvanen
- Thread starter maplepred
- Start date
Gnashville
HFBoards Hall of Famer
We've never actually known what it's like to have anyone in the Calder conversation if this is supposed to prove that Smith was. We've had hype around Rinne for the Vezina and Subban and Weber for the Norris. Smith supposedly being hyped for a Calder was nowhere in the same universe as any of those.
wadesworld
Registered User
Gnashville
HFBoards Hall of Famer
I distinctly remember NBCSN naming Smith as a Calder Favorite.
As I stated Tolvanen IMO is going to be another Smith or Fiala at best. A decent 2nd/3rd liner but certainly not the level of the hype he got. He was compared with Elias Pettersson at one time. The only thing he has in common with Pettersson is he is teammates with his brother Emil in Milwaukee since he is no where near that talented and it is crystal clear why he fell in that draft to 30th.
I was just as excited as everyone else was when we drafted him, but I have toned down the expectations to a realistic level. Smith and Fiala are good 20/20 guys, nothing wrong if he becomes that.
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JustaFinnishGuy
Joonas Donskoi avi but not a SEA fan ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
He's slooowwww against his peers in the WJC atm.
Is snakebitten, he had 2 breakaways* vs Kazakhstan and many shots that rang around the boards.
Is snakebitten, he had 2 breakaways* vs Kazakhstan and many shots that rang around the boards.
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TitansVolsPreds615
Registered User
- Feb 19, 2015
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He is way more confident in the puck in junior's. Would like to see him develop those same puck skills over here. Granted the talent level of the guys you are playing against gives you a little more time and space to do some of those moves.
Legionnaire11
Registered User
See, I think what you're doing and what most of us are doing is forgetting how excited we were when he was drafted... it actually wasn't very excited at all. I mean, we were happy to get a guy who was projected to go much higher but we were also afraid of why he fell. And we all figured that the scouting reports were correct, great shot but nothing else, long-term project.
So he had a good rookie camp, showed that he was a good skater and we felt a little more hopeful. Then when he said he was going to Finland (after already being in NA to play jr hockey) we were afraid that we had a flight risk and a wasted pick.
Then he went on a tear for a few months in the KHL and that's when expectations went through the roof. Even after he cooled off significantly we made excuses for why rather than assuming he had just been on a hot streak and now regressed to what he really is. Even Poile bought into it by getting him out of his KHL contract and over to the Preds.
Now it looks like Eeli is certainly better than the small, one-dimensional player we thought on draft day, but certainly not nearly as good as the player who lit up the KHL for half a season. As you said, if he's a middle-six scorer, that's actually around what we thought he could be on draft day, and considering the #30 pick is anything but a sure bet we'd historically be lucky to get a solid NHL player out of it.
Either way, we all jumped the gun based on a few months in the KHL. This season and next are really development years for him, it's 20-21 when he comes into the season at 21 years old that we should really start to make a determination on what he is.
Legionnaire11
Registered User
For comparison, the #30 picks since the Preds entered the league:
1998 - D - Kyle Rossiter - 11 games, 1 point. Next impact player: #44 - Mike Fisher
1999 - D - Luke Sellers - 1 game, 0 points. Next impact player: #44 - Jordan Leopold
2000 - C - Jeff Taffe - 180 games, 86 points. Next impact player: #33 - Jeff Schultz
2001 - C - Dave Steckel - 425 games, 79 points. Next impact player: #32 - Derek Roy
2002 - C - Jim Slater - 584 games, 138 games. Next impact player: #36 - Jarret Stoll
2003 - D - Shawn Belle - 20 games, 1 point. Next impact player: #33 - Loui Eriksson
2004 - D - Andy Rogers - 0 games, 0 points. Next impact player: #32 - Dave Bolland
2005 - D - Vladimir Mihalik - 15 games, 3 points. Next impact player: #33 - James Neal
2006 - D - Matt Corrente - 34 games, 6 points. Next impact player: #36 - Jamie McGinn
2007 - D - Nick Ross - o games, 0 points. Next impact player: #43 - P.K. Subban
2008 - G - Tom McCollum - 3 games, 1 win. Next impact player: #32 - Slava Voynov
2009 - D - Simon Despres - 193 games, 43 points. Next impact player: #33 - Ryan O'Reilly
2010 - C - Brock Nelson - 433 games, 211 points. Next impact player: #37 - Justin Faulk
2011 - C - Rickard Rakell - 343 games, 218 points. Next impact player: #34 - Scott Mayfield
2012 - L - Tanner Pearson - 346 games, 151 points. Next impact player: #36 - Pontus Aberg?
2013 - R - Ryan Hartman - 200 games, 76 points. Next impact player: #34 - Jacob De La Rose
2014 - C - John Quenneville - 26 games, 4 points. Next impact player: #33 - Ivan Barbashev
2015 - R - Nick Merkley - 1 game, 0 points. Next impact player: #32 - Christian Fischer
2016 - C - Sam Steel - 13 games, 3 points. Next impact player: #39 - Alex DeBrincat
2017 - R - Eeli Tolvanen - 7 games, 2 points. Next impact player: #41 - Jaret Anderson-Dolan (this was who I wanted the Preds to take)
2018 - D - Alexander Alexeyev - 0 games, 0 points. Next impact player: none
So the #30 pick is basically a tossup. It seems like wingers have been a more successful pick there and that Tolvanen seems to be on a path to be one of the better picks if he carves out a career as a middle-six scorer.
1998 - D - Kyle Rossiter - 11 games, 1 point. Next impact player: #44 - Mike Fisher
1999 - D - Luke Sellers - 1 game, 0 points. Next impact player: #44 - Jordan Leopold
2000 - C - Jeff Taffe - 180 games, 86 points. Next impact player: #33 - Jeff Schultz
2001 - C - Dave Steckel - 425 games, 79 points. Next impact player: #32 - Derek Roy
2002 - C - Jim Slater - 584 games, 138 games. Next impact player: #36 - Jarret Stoll
2003 - D - Shawn Belle - 20 games, 1 point. Next impact player: #33 - Loui Eriksson
2004 - D - Andy Rogers - 0 games, 0 points. Next impact player: #32 - Dave Bolland
2005 - D - Vladimir Mihalik - 15 games, 3 points. Next impact player: #33 - James Neal
2006 - D - Matt Corrente - 34 games, 6 points. Next impact player: #36 - Jamie McGinn
2007 - D - Nick Ross - o games, 0 points. Next impact player: #43 - P.K. Subban
2008 - G - Tom McCollum - 3 games, 1 win. Next impact player: #32 - Slava Voynov
2009 - D - Simon Despres - 193 games, 43 points. Next impact player: #33 - Ryan O'Reilly
2010 - C - Brock Nelson - 433 games, 211 points. Next impact player: #37 - Justin Faulk
2011 - C - Rickard Rakell - 343 games, 218 points. Next impact player: #34 - Scott Mayfield
2012 - L - Tanner Pearson - 346 games, 151 points. Next impact player: #36 - Pontus Aberg?
2013 - R - Ryan Hartman - 200 games, 76 points. Next impact player: #34 - Jacob De La Rose
2014 - C - John Quenneville - 26 games, 4 points. Next impact player: #33 - Ivan Barbashev
2015 - R - Nick Merkley - 1 game, 0 points. Next impact player: #32 - Christian Fischer
2016 - C - Sam Steel - 13 games, 3 points. Next impact player: #39 - Alex DeBrincat
2017 - R - Eeli Tolvanen - 7 games, 2 points. Next impact player: #41 - Jaret Anderson-Dolan (this was who I wanted the Preds to take)
2018 - D - Alexander Alexeyev - 0 games, 0 points. Next impact player: none
So the #30 pick is basically a tossup. It seems like wingers have been a more successful pick there and that Tolvanen seems to be on a path to be one of the better picks if he carves out a career as a middle-six scorer.
TitansVolsPreds615
Registered User
- Feb 19, 2015
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Looks like Tolvanen is developing the "can't finish" reputation that we all know and love here with our forwards in Nashville. I still think he will be a 20 goal guy with the odd season where he could touch 30 like Craig Smith.
Roman Yoshi
#164303
What I just learned is never take a D man at the end of the first round. YIKES.
I am glad that McCollum is in Milwaukee.
I believe that Tolvanen will do just that.
101st_fan
I taught Yoda
For all of the Calder talk I'm shocked that nobody remembered Pekka's 4th when he was eligible for that award.
As well as Forsberg. I remember being pretty peeved that Stone was 3rd over him.
wadesworld
Registered User
Board was having problems so I couldn't reply to this.
Smith was definitely in the very early Calder discussion. He was first amongst all rookies with a fast start. Of course he couldn't maintain that pace and was never mentioned again. But to say he was never discussed for the Calder is incorrect.
maplepred
Go Preds Go!!
- Aug 14, 2011
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Is it just me or sometimes to players that slide lower than they were expected to be drafted sometimes feel like they have more to prove and end up quite nicely fits in the NHL?
Just recently I can think of (besides Tolvanen), Cam Fowler sliding out of the top ten as well as our own Forsberg and those two turned out veg nicely after both having major draft day slides.
Just recently I can think of (besides Tolvanen), Cam Fowler sliding out of the top ten as well as our own Forsberg and those two turned out veg nicely after both having major draft day slides.
I'm not sure if you want to call it a "slide", and certainly not to the effect you're talking about, but Seth Jones probably should've been gone before 4. Weird to look back at now because of how things have played out but I was shocked Florida or Tampa didn't pick him.
101st_fan
I taught Yoda
Jones suffered from a positional slide, not one from talent or issues. I did a sort of that draft class by points in the NHL .... Jones is 5th in that sort.
King Weber
Registered User
- Apr 9, 2015
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King Weber
Registered User
- Apr 9, 2015
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close call with Flyers prospect Noah Cates last night.that's as blatant as it gets.
geez, that's a huge gif. sorry.
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
Yes. I really didn't like that! You connect on that in an IIHF game and you are ejected.
JustaFinnishGuy
Joonas Donskoi avi but not a SEA fan ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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