Calgary Flames 2017 NHL Draft Profile: LW Eeli Tolvanen

With the 16th overall pick, the Calgary Flames have many names to choose from. Let’s look at a possible draft pick with LW Eeli Tolvanen.

Everyday, we’ve been looking at new draft profiles for the Calgary Flames 16th selection at this year’s NHL’s draft. Like we’ve been mentioning, the three things the Flames need right now are wingers, a top-four defenceman, and a goaltender.

For the most part, we’ve mainly been looking at forwards. We’ve looked at one defenceman, but it’s most likely that the Flames will be picking a forward at this year’s draft, if they even choose to draft instead of trading that 16th pick.

Last time, we looked at American/Canadian defenceman and son of former NHL player Adam Foote, Callan Foote. Today, let’s look at Finnish forward Eeli Tolvanen.

Who is Eeli Tolvanen?

Name: Eeli Tolvanen

Birth place: Vihti, Finland

Position: LW

Shoots: Left

Birthdate: 1999-04-22

Height: 5’10” / 179 cm

Weight: 82 kg / 181 lbs

Team: Boston College

League: NCAA

Stats from 2016-2017

Stats with Sioux City Musketeers, USHL, regular season (From eliteprospects.com):

PIM

+/-

523024542618

Stats with Sioux City Musketeers, USHL, playoffs (From eliteprospects.com):

GP

PIM

+/-

13551063

Former Drafts

From eliteprospects.com

2016

Round 1, 17th overall: Oshawa Generals, CHL Import Draft

Rankings for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek ranked him at 7th overall in March, which is three spots lowerthan their previous rankings in January, claiming that he “Heating back up again in the USHL. One of the top pure snipers in the draft this season.”

NHL.com’s Mike Morreale put him at 8th overall in January.

"He has plenty of speed, hockey sense and intensity to complement a solid skill set and NHL-caliber release. Tolvanen (5-10, 170), born in Finland, will attend Boston College in 2017-18. He leads Sioux City in goals (16), points (29), game-winning goals (four) and shots on goal (134) in 26 games."

Scouting Report

"This goal-scoring winger is a real offensive threat. Plays with speed, intensity and skills […] Likes to shoot and has an impressive accurate shot with an absolutely deadly release. Positions himself correctly to be open for the one-timer […] An underrated playmaking forward that is a dual threat in the offensive zone, although he does love to shoot. Aware of defensive-zone puck movement and positions himself responsibly. Hunter on the forecheck who looks to turn over pucks and quickly switch to offense. Effective on the backcheck as he looks to break up scoring chances. Does not avoid physical play, but does not initiate it either. Will become a NHL goal-scorer and difference-maker. (Future Considerations)."

Where does he fit in with the Flames?

Like I mentioned, the Calgary Flames need a couple of bottom-six wingers. And with the Flames having a good number of defence prospects, having a winger prospect wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Eeli Tolvanen isn’t the biggest guy in the league, but his speed and intensity makes up for it. He somewhat reminds me of a mix between Micheal Ferland and Lance Bouma in their respective junior years. Ferland for his points production and his speed and intensity, but Bouma for the size and for the fact that he doesn’t avoid physical play, especially with his size.

The Flames have two strong two-way centermen and a line (3M) that performs great on the backcheck. Tightening up the third line on the backcheck would be ideal, however I can see this guy becoming a top-six NHLer in a few years time.

Right now, the Flames top two lines are quite effective with the addition of Micheal Ferland on that top line, but nobody knows if he’ll keep this momentum up. He hasn’t been a top six NHLer for a lot of his NHL career, but even all the players talk about how underrated he is and how he’s definitely good enough to remain on that top line for now. Which I completely agree with. Which is why I don’t see this fit right now with the team BUT in a few years, I can definitely see it.

Drafting Tolvanen would be a good and safe pick for the Flames because they can use some winger prospects and he can use a few years in the AHL to develop and play with the pros. I wouldn’t mind seeing this kid with the Flames at some point.

Oh and just for fun, let’s look at some of his highlights:

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Every time I do one of these draft profiles, I talk about who I would prefer out of all the profiles I’ve done. Up until this point, I was dead-set on Lias Andersson being the best choice for the Calgary Flames. But I think Tolvanen may be a better choice. The only advantage Andersson would have over Tolvanen is being a good fit with the team right now, but they’re not always looking for “right now”. We need to think about later down the road as well.