The Nashville Predators are regretting their decision to put forward Eeli Tolvanen on waivers. The young Finnish forward was claimed by the Seattle Kraken, and has been making an immediate impact for his new team.
Tolvanen has recorded five points in his first six games with the Kraken, with three goals and two assists. This is a marked improvement over his production with the Predators this season, where he had just four points in 13 games.
Nashville general manager David Poile acknowledged the potential mistake in a recent interview. “This could be a mistake on our part. That’s on me if he turns out to be really successful. We thought we tried him in a lot of different areas, different places,” Poile said.
Tolvanen was originally drafted by Nashville in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, and was highly touted as a top prospect for the team. However, he struggled to find consistent playing time with the Predators, and was ultimately put on waivers in an effort to send him down to the team’s AHL affiliate.
While it’s still early in Tolvanen’s career, and it’s possible that he may have struggled to adapt to the NHL if he had stayed with Nashville, the fact that he has been able to produce immediately with the Kraken suggests that the team may have given up on him too soon. It remains to be seen how much he will continue to play with Seattle, but the young player seem to have found a good fit with the expansion team. It’s unfortunate for Nashville that they couldn’t find a proper fit for him in their line-up, as Tolvanen appears to be a talented player who still could have added value to their team.
