Prospect Info: Eeli Tolvanen
- Thread starter maplepred
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Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Does anyone actually watch Eeli play? I'd love to hear about his performances, because boxscore really doesn't tell much.
Another Pulkkinen but not even nearly as effective in the AHL. Either he just doesn't get motivated for the AHL or he isn't good enough to play professional hockey in the smaller rink. His book really didn't make him seem very smart either.
One reason why Tolvanen had lots of points in the beginning of last season is the fact that the Russian teams train like crazy in the summer and they tend to be slower than Jokerit in the beginning of the season. Jokerit has played really well early on for a couple of years now. Then after 20-30 games the hard summer training of the Russian teams starts to pay off. In the play offs he played well vs Sochi but vs CSKA he only had 1+1 in 6 games. In the regular season he only had 6+6 in the 25 games since Nov 1st. And the olympics.. were a joke.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
There's nothing in his game that screams another Pulkkinen. He's a good passer and good enough skater for the NHL (Even good, some may say), plus the shot he has.
Tolvanen had great playoffs and he scored everywhere he went (minus U20). You're just full of it. Sometimes i feel like people wait for these young kids to show some weakness so they can just f***ing rip into them.
Yes, the Russian teams train so hard that it takes them half a season until they stop sucking. Oh wait, that's not true and it's just hilariously bad reasoning. Your cherry picking is honestly pathetic. When Tolvanen scores it's because the other team isn't trying or the tournament doesn't count because it's a joke.
How many Admirals games have you watched to make this basis? I'd argue he's close to the team lead on hits, definitely something that I didn't expect and has forced a number of turnovers by opponents defensemen.
He's had some bad puck luck as well, he hit 2 posts last night alone. But at least he's buying in and playing a full game, more-so than Fiala ever did, IMO.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
What are you talking about? I've watched zero Admirals games. Then again i watched almost every single game he played last season, no matter where he played. Unless his legs fell off during the summer i doubt his skating changed. And unless he hit is head i doubt his smarts changed for the worse. Your opinions are those of a person who thinks that a 19 year old kid cannot develop further.
I think Eeli has all the tools to succeed in the NHL, but a guy his size will need to work hard. It's up to him.
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Look at who I quoted, it wasn't you
I'd pretty much agree with everything you said above.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Ah, good lord. Sorry.Look at who I quoted, it wasn't you
You may get some responses in the minor league/system thread. There are several Admirals fans that browse that one. But I'm not in there much so maybe you already post in it.
Bringer of Jollity
Registered User
Doesn't HF have forums to talk about hockey/players from specific countries? Wish the Finn and Swedish fans that only care about hyping/slagging players from their country--and not the organizations they play for --could take their bullshit over there. As respects the Preds, I 'll be more interested to see what he does second half of season after he's acclimated to the North American game a bit.
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AdmiralsFan24
Registered User
I watched him last night in person. He is playing well, but not outstanding. I saw him lay his stick down in the neutral zone in period 2 and intercept a pass at even strength. Usually, you only see that when a team is short handed or you get into a hot tub and get sent back to 1968. I liked it, it was old school hockey!
He does throw some checks like cjerina posted. He is good at using his speed to stop or turn opponents everywhere on the ice. He stays on his wing and plays sound positional offense and defense. He does not try to be a puck hog or a shot hog or ignore defense like Fiala did when he started playing here.
He is 6th in scoring on the team with 1 g and 7 A in 15 games with 32 shots and the highest rookie on the team. He hasn't had good luck scoring goals. Recently, I saw him miss a net by a foot on a deflection shot from the low slot. He had a good foot of net to get in it the goal. Maybe 1 in 3 or 4 of those go in. cjerina said he hit two posts last night. I know the Admirals had 3 posts, one on Blackwell's goal. I didn't really see who had the other two, at least one was at the far end of the ice. It could have been Tolvanen. He got a minor last night for slashing. I didn't see it even though I was looking that way, and I didn't see a replay. He looked unhappy about it and the refs were the worst by far so far this season of the five Admirals games that I have attended. He didn't say or do anything, he skated straight to the penalty box. That was his first penalty of the season.
On a 100 scale, I give him an 80 at the moment. By the All Star game he will be an 85. By the end of the season he will be a 90 unless he gets injured. He does play a physical game for somebody from Europe, who is 19 and weighs 190 pounds. I think that he will be in the NHL next year.
Milwaukee is in first place in their 8 team division with 19 points in 15 games with no wins in their last 5 games. He is a reason that they are winning so far, not the reason for the recent losing. The offense has gone cold, maybe because Grimaldi, the #2 scorer, is in Nashville.
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AdmiralsFan24
Registered User
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
Also the guys are in the AHL to develop. I'm sure the Preds want a forward with an all around game rather than just scoring goals. He may be doing exactly what he was told to do which is work on his overall game. Sometimes it takes a bit to learn how to balance that and keep your mind on scoring unless you are just a great talent.
Kid just needs time.
Kid just needs time.
No shit. Thanks captain obvious. It doesn’t change shooting or skating angels though.
He didn’t say he needed to get used to the speed of the game he said he needed to get used to North America ice. He’s played more on NA ice than he has European ice.
AdmiralsFan24
Registered User
Of course it does. Who's more likely to take good angles and cut off lanes an AHL player who was drafted by an NHL team or some 17 year old kid still learning the game or a 20 year old that isn't going to be an NHL draft pick?
He is the youngest player on the Admirals at 19. I would guess that team average is 24. The two goalies average 29 and Donovan is 28.
AdmiralsFan24
Registered User
Because it's still smaller ice and the defense from 16-20 year olds isn't going to be as good? Again, who's more likely to cut off angles and close out shooting lanes? The guys he's playing against in the AHL now are bigger, faster and better at closing down lanes than the players he played against in the USHL. So of course there is going to be another adjustment period for him even though he's played on NA ice before.
I've seen it several times already this year. He has space to shoot, thinks he has more time than he actually does and the lane closes and he either gets the shot blocked or he has to hold off on shooting because the shot would be blocked if he did shoot.
Dude you’re still arguing about the speed of the game. Yes he has to get used to that. Every young player does.
