Eeli Tolvanen

Eeli Tolvanen (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈeːli ˈtolʋɑnen]; born 22 April 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing under contract as a prospect to the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tolvanen was selected by the Predators in the first round, 30th overall, in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He was born in Vihti, Finland, but grew up in Huhmari, Finland[1]

Eeli Tolvanen
Born (1999-04-22) 22 April 1999
Vihti, Finland
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 87 kg (192 lb; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Nashville Predators
Jokerit
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 30th overall, 2017
Nashville Predators
Playing career 2017–present

Playing career

Tolvanen first played in his native Finland within the junior program of the Espoo Blues. Upon the 2015–16 season, Tolvanen opted to pursue a North American development in playing junior hockey for Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League.[2] He later committed to play collegiate hockey with Boston College on 13 June 2016.[3]

Following a standout 2016–17 season with the Musketeers and on the eve of the draft, in which he was later selected with the 30th pick in the first round by the Nashville Predators in the 2017 NHL Draft. Tolvanen's collegiate aspirations were closed after his application was rejected by the Boston College admissions due to an issue with his high school course credits on 22 June 2017.[4]

On 5 July 2017, Tolvanen started his professional career in agreeing to an optional two-year contract with the Finnish-based Jokerit of the KHL.[5]

On 23 August 2017, Tolvanen scored his first career KHL hat trick in his season debut against HC Dinamo Minsk,[6] giving him the youngest hat trick in KHL history at 18 years 123 days. Tolvanen scored his second career KHL hat trick on 25 September 2017 in his eleventh game of the KHL season against HC Vityaz. He was voted in by fans to play in the 2018 KHL All-Star Game.[7]

Tolvanen arrived in Nashville and signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators of the NHL on 29 March 2018.[8] He made his NHL debut on 31 March 2018 in a 7–4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.[9] On 1 December 2018, Tolvanen scored his first career NHL goal against Cam Ward of the Chicago Blackhawks.[10]

After attending the Predators training camp, Tolvanen was reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League to begin the 2019–20 season.[11]

Approaching the final season of his entry-level contract on 24 August 2020, Tolvanen returned to original club, Jokerit of the KHL, on loan until the commencement of the delayed 2020–21 North American season.[12] He made 25 further appearances for Jokerit, posting 5 goals and 13 points, before returning to North America on 15 December 2020.[13]

International play

Tolvanen was selected to represent Team Finland at the 2016 IIHF World U18 Championships where he helped Finland win gold. The following years he played for Team Finland in the 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Tolvanen was also selected to play for Team Finland at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[14] In his Olympic debut, he recorded four points to help Finland beat Germany 5–2.[15] He ended the tournament with 9 points in 5 games.

Personal life

Tolvanen is the youngest of three brothers, Joona and Atte, who all play hockey. His brother Joona plays in the Finnish Mestis league, while his other brother Atte played for Northern Michigan University.[14][16]

Career statistics

Regular Season and Playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2014–15 Blues Jr. A 7 2 3 5 2 — — — — —
2015–16 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 49 17 21 38 12 — — — — —
2016–17 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 52 30 24 54 26 13 5 5 10 6
2017–18 Jokerit KHL 49 19 17 36 28 11 6 1 7 8
2017–18 Nashville Predators NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2018–19 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 58 15 20 35 24 5 0 0 0 2
2018–19 Nashville Predators NHL 4 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 63 21 15 36 18 — — — — —
2020–21 Jokerit KHL 25 5 8 13 10 — — — — —
KHL totals 74 24 25 49 38 11 6 1 7 8
NHL totals 7 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
2019 Canada
IIHF World U18 Championship
2016 USA

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2015 Finland IH18 4th 5 1 1 2 0
2015 Finland U17 5th 5 9 1 10 0
2016 Finland WJC18 7 7 2 9 0
2017 Finland WJC 9th 6 2 4 6 2
2018 Finland WJC 6th 5 1 5 6 4
2018 Finland OG 6th 5 3 6 9 4
2018 Finland WC 5th 4 2 2 4 2
2019 Finland WJC 7 0 4 4 2
Junior totals 35 20 17 37 8
Senior totals 9 5 8 13 6

Awards and honours
Award Year
USHL
All-Rookie Team 2016
First All-Star Team 2017
KHL
KHL All-Star Game 2018 [7]
KHL Forward of the Week (Oct. 2) 2017
KHL Rookie of the Month (September) 2017
KHL Rookie of the Month (October) 2017
5x KHL Rookie of the Week 2017
International
U17 All-Star Team 2016
Olympic All-Star Team 2018 [17]

References
  1. "Eeli Tolvanen Draft Profile". National Hockey League. 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  2. "Musketeers sign forward Eeli Tolvanen to tender". United States Hockey League. 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2015-04-14.
  3. "Tolvanen commits to Boston College". Sioux City Musketeers. 2016-06-13. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  4. "Reports suggest that Eeli Tolvanen will not attend Boston College". bcinterruption.com. 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  5. "Jokerit sign highly rated Eeli Tolvanen" (in Finnish). Jokerit. 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
  6. "Predators first-rounder Tolvanen nets hat trick in first KHL game – Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
  7. "A Star From Every Club – 2018 All-Star Game full rosters announced". en.khl.ru. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  8. "Preds Sign Eeli Tolvanen to Three-Year Entry-Level Contract". NHL.com. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  9. Organ, Mike (31 March 2018). "Predators lose to Sabres in Eeli Tolvanen debut". The Tennessean. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  10. "Tolvanen's first NHL goal". NHL.com. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  11. "Training Camp Buzz: Tolvanen assigned to AHL by Predators". nhl.com. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  12. "Tolvanen makes a return to Jokerit" (in Finnish). Jokerit. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  13. "Tolvanen heads back to NHL" (in Finnish). Jokerit. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  14. "ATHLETE PROFILE – EELI TOLVANEN". olympic.org. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  15. "Predators prospect Eeli Tolvanen has 4 points in Olympic debut". sportsnet.ca. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  16. "JOONA TOLVANEN". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  17. "Kovalchuk MVP". IIHF.com. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Dante Fabbro		 Nashville Predators first round draft pick
2017		 Succeeded by
Philip Tomasino
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