Thank You, Eeli Tolvanen

Nashville loses a Finnish winger to the waiver wire for nothing.

There are consequences for every action.

The Nashville Predators selected Eeli Tolvanen in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, and many fans and analysts thought Tolvanen might be a diamond in the rough. He fell quite a bit in the draft, so others were a little skeptical.

He would not come to Nashville immediately, instead spending time with the KHL’s Jokerit and doing big things in the World Juniors.

When he did get to Nashville, we were thrilled. There were some bumps, and Tolvanen marinated well for the Milwaukee Admirals.

Anyway, as the organization has clearly decided to let Tolvanen find success somewhere else—and he most certainly will—we have to wish him well, with the Seattle Kraken or wherever he goes from there.

The Athletic graded Tolvanen as such today:

The Athletic

Back in 2021, former Athletic writer Adam Vingan wrote about how Tolvanen’s patience with Milwaukee was paying off for him with Nashville. That’s no more. Milwaukee’s head coach, Karl Taylor, said at the time: “He’s done the work. Everything he’s been asked to do as a player, he’s done it.” Sometimes viewed as offense-only, Tolvanen certainly put in the work.

OTF’s Jeff wrote about Tolvanen in the Global Series.

Nonetheless, he made a big statement overseas, and the hope is that he can continue to look like a player who can make a serious impact in the top six of the Predators.

Lots of fans were excited to see Tolvanen elevated to a top-six role (finally), but he became a healthy scratch more often than not as the weather turned cooler. It’s confusing and mystifying, honestly.

On the Forecheck is full of articles about Tolvanen, from analyzing his AHL impact to discussing what his ideal linemates might be. Tolvanen seems like the kind of player that’s too good to give away, but that’s basically what happened on Sunday afternoon. Nashville will regret waiving him, in my opinion.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank Eeli Tolvanen in an article he’ll never read. He’ll never remember me interviewing him in the locker room, but I’d like to thank him for always having insightful answers. Thanks for sticking it out for Nashville. Thanks for switching jersey numbers twice, once for Brian Boyle. Thanks for giving Nashville everything, and thanks for impacting Milwaukee fans, too. I wish you nothing but success wherever you land, Eeli. I hope that you are properly utilized and I hope you score buckets of goals. I hope your new fans love you as much as many Nashville fans loved you. Thank you, #28.