Tolvanen wil sign with Preds after KHL playoffs

[Jouko-Pouko]

Tolvanen's Jokerit team is down 2-0 against CSKA. Ilya Sorokin has allowed exactly zero goals against Jokerit. Their 3rd game will be played on Monday and their 4th game will be played on Tuesday. Unless Jokerit can somehow get past the wall Sorokin has built, Tolvanen might be free to join the Predators as soon as Tuesday.

[VincentVega]

To be honest, I don't like this move by the Preds. They are firing on all cylinders right now. Is an 18-year old rookie with zero NHL games experience going to jump in the mix at the end of the season, have enough time to get acclimated to the NHL very different game and mesh with the team in the span of 8 or 9 games so that he can be relied upon in the playoffs? I mean, isn't the playoffs the only reason to bring him over? Why else burn a year of his ELC?

[Dennis]

I doubt they intend to burn a year off his ELC. They can have him in only a handful of regular season games, they're scratching and resting players anyways, and then he's around to practice with the team and provide extra depth in the case of injuries through playoffs. I don't see the harm and it provents him from signing an extension that keeps him in the KHL.

[VincentVega]

I doubt they intend to burn a year off his ELC. They can have him in only a handful of regular season games, they're scratching and resting players anyways, and then he's around to practice with the team and provide extra depth in the case of injuries through playoffs. I don't see the harm and it provents him from signing an extension that keeps him in the KHL.

If he doesn't play 9+ games then that's fine.

[Dennis]

If they feel they have to play him they will, if they don't all the better.

[Jouko-Pouko]

I'm not exactly sure what the rules are for burning the first year of ELC but the Bruins burnt the first year of McAvoy's ELC last season, and he played a total of 0 games during the regular season and 6 games during the playoffs.

[Zorro]

The Jets are talking about leaving Vesalainen in Finland to play in the World Championships for Finland, not sure why Nashville wouldn't do the same with Tolvanen??

[VincentVega]

I'm not exactly sure what the rules are for burning the first year of ELC but the Bruins burnt the first year of McAvoy's ELC last season, and he played a total of 0 games during the regular season and 6 games during the playoffs.

I believe it's 9 games, including the playoffs. However, given that McAvoy burnt a year with just 6 games tells me there is something more in the rules I'm not aware of. Maybe there is a different rule for college players?

[Jouko-Pouko]

The Jets are talking about leaving Vesalainen in Finland to play in the World Championships for Finland, not sure why Nashville wouldn't do the same with Tolvanen??

Vesalainen is not as good a player as Tolvanen is, and his season will also last longer than Tolvanen's season.

[Dennis]

I'm not exactly sure what the rules are for burning the first year of ELC but the Bruins burnt the first year of McAvoy's ELC last season, and he played a total of 0 games during the regular season and 6 games during the playoffs.

From what I understand that is the result of McAvoy's late December birthday. Tolvanen has an April birthday and is still only 18 so this will not apply.

from capfriendly

What is an Entry Level Slide?

If a player who is signed to an entry-level contract and is 18 or 19 years of age (as of September 15 of the signing year), does not play in a minimum of 10 NHL games (including both regular season and playoffs; AHL games do not count), their contract is considered to ‘slide’, or extend, by one year. For example, if a player signed an ELC for three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-2018, and their contract slides, their contract is now effective from 2016-17 to 2018-19. An exception to this rule is that if the player is 19 on September 15 of the first year of their contract, and turns 20 between September 16 and December 31, their contract does not slide.

from http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/03/3...l-this-season/

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple right now. For most players on ATOs, it would take 10 games played at the NHL level to use up the first year of their entry-level contracts. But McAvoy’s December 21 birthday, for reasons I will not bore you with right now, complicates that matter. If the Boston Bruins bring up McAvoy to play even one game down the stretch of the regular season, it would burn through the entire first year of his entry-level contract with the team. McAvoy would only be under contract for two full seasons before becoming a restricted free agent in the summer of 2019.

[Bazz]

He's one of the top three prospects in the world (Kaprizov, Tolvanen and Pettersson) IMO. He has an option to be in the KHL next year, I bring him over and burn a year if that's the difference between having him next year or not.

Looking at their top three lines, I think Tolvanen with Turris and Fiala is better than Smith. That could put Smith with Bonino and Hartman which is better than Sissons.

[The Comish]

He's one of the top three prospects in the world (Kaprizov, Tolvanen and Pettersson) IMO. He has an option to be in the KHL next year, I bring him over and burn a year if that's the difference between having him next year or not.

Looking at their top three lines, I think Tolvanen with Turris and Fiala is better than Smith. That could put Smith with Bonino and Hartman which is better than Sissons.

I'm loving how well Tolvanen is doing. I had the 14th pick in our prospects draft and couldn't decide between Tolvanen and E.Pettersson. The guy in front of me took Pettersson, so my choice was very easy.

I think Nashville has to sign Tolvanen and if he burns a year, he burns a year. They are trying to win the Stanley Cup and you need quality and depth to do that. Also, we don't know how well he'll play when he comes over. The KHL is not the NHL, plus he's still a teenager. Obviously, I'll be cheering for him to do well!

[Bazz]

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/975019415430483974

Little guy has some fight in him too, looks like we might have a guy who gets some H&B too.

[PenguinHunter]

The Jets are talking about leaving Vesalainen in Finland to play in the World Championships for Finland, not sure why Nashville wouldn't do the same with Tolvanen??

Playoff Depth... they want him over here and ready to play incase they lose players in their playoff run like last year when they lost Fiala and Johansen.

[ericdaoust]

All of that extra depth is useless until you suffer inevitable playoff injuries and you suddenly run out of useful bodies...