More Tolvy Time!

There’s a reason why loud cheers that went up from Kraken faithful at this year’s development camp when general manager Ron Francis announced a two-year deal to keep Eeli Tolvanen in Seattle.

In two seasons with the Kraken, Tolvanen – who was wisely picked up off of waivers in December 2022 by Francis – has become a big part of what his team can do, especially offensively.

Last year was a career year for the 25-year-old Finn in terms of total points (16-25-41). He’s notched 16 goals for the Kraken each of the last two seasons, and that’s been good enough to put him among the top Seattle forwards in terms of goals per 60 minutes of play both in 5-on-5 play (.89 / 60) and on the power play (.98 / 60).

There are a few ingredients that go into Tolvanen’s ability to score as effectively as he can. The 2017 first-round draft pick has such a quick release. Per allthreezones.com, Tolvanen ranks in the top third of the league in one-timers, and according to Sportlogiq, he gets off 1.85 shots per 60 minutes of play within eight feet of the net, even when under pressure (5-on-5). Couple that with one of the better finishing abilities in the league (plus-.9 per HockeyViz.com) and you can get the kind of scoring production we’ve seen from Tolvanen.

What’s also notable is how Tolvanen gets scoring chances in the first place. Tolvanen isn’t just valuable on an initial shot attempt, he can make sure the Kraken get more than one look at the net. Tolvanen ranks 59th out of 924 skaters who played in the NHL last season in terms of gathering rebounds in the offensive zone (5-on-5 play), and when rated out per 60 minutes of play only Jordan Eberle gathers more rebounds.

Watch as Tolvanen positions himself in the soft space net front that has been given up by Detroit. The forward puts himself in the perfect spot to jump on the rebound off Vince Dunn’s shot and fire off a shot attempt from the high danger area of the ice.

And it’s more than just right spot right time for Tolvanen. Watch as he uses his hockey IQ to read the path of the rebound here, position himself to gain advantage over the Penguin skater. Once Tolvanen gains possession, he efforts a quick low-to-high give and go with Will Borgen at the top of the zone before spinning and using that quick release to get a shot on net.

It’s clear that Tolvanen can make his mark on the scoresheet. What’s equally notable is how his two-way play contributes to getting to those opportunities. 

According to Natural Stat Trick, over the last two seasons, among Kraken forwards who played at least 50 games, Tolvanen had the fifth lowest percentage of shift starts in the offensive zone. That means he was frequently part of a group that had to do the work to get out of the defensive zone before getting into position to attack. 

That ability is built on a few key skills. In terms of disrupting opponents’ attack, Tolvanen has been ranked in the top third in the NHL in terms of forechecking pressures per 60 minutes of play by All Three Zones. He also has the third most hits per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play (8.89) of all Kraken forwards – only Tye Kartye and Brandon Tanev have more – all while not taking as many hits as he gives. Tolvanen is also in the positive when it comes to giveaway plus-minus with .81 more takeaways than giveaways per 60.

Tolvanen has proven himself to be a solid two-way player who can grind away defensively and then turn on the offensive skill when needed. And while he spent the majority of his time as a Kraken on a line with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand, he’s also proven he can find chemistry with other players having spent time on the ice with Matty Beniers, Jaden Schwartz among others, in fact his last game winner of the season came while playing with Bjorkstrand and Beniers.

With two more years of Tolvanen’s services secured, it will be exciting to see how he contributes to the Kraken going forward.

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