Eeli Tolvanen

BIOGRAPHY

Eeli Tolvanen was born April 22, 1999, in Vihti, Finland. He is a forward in the NHL.

Tolvanen first played in his native Finland within the junior program of the Espoo Blues. Upon the 2015–16 season, Tolvanen opted to pursue a North American development in playing junior hockey for Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League. He later committed to play collegiate hockey with Boston College on 13 June 2016.

Following a standout 2016–17 season with the Musketeers and on the eve of the draft, in which he was later selected with the 30th pick in the first round by the Nashville Predators in the 2017 NHL Draft. Tolvanen's collegiate aspirations were closed after his application was rejected by the Boston College admissions due to an issue with his high school course credits on 22 June 2017.

On 5 July 2017, Tolvanen started his professional career in agreeing to an optional two-year contract with the Finnish-based Jokerit of the KHL.

On 23 August 2017, Tolvanen scored his first career KHL hat trick in his season debut against HC Dinamo Minsk, giving him the youngest hat trick in KHL history at 18 years 123 days. Tolvanen scored his second career KHL hat trick on 25 September 2017 in his eleventh game of the KHL season against HC Vityaz. He was voted in by fans to play in the 2018 KHL All-Star Game.

Tolvanen arrived in Nashville and signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators of the NHL on 29 March 2018. He made his NHL debut on 31 March 2018 in a 7–4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. On 1 December 2018, Tolvanen scored his first career NHL goal against Cam Ward of the Chicago Blackhawks.

After attending the Predators training camp, Tolvanen was reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League to begin the 2019–20 season.

Approaching the final season of his entry-level contract on 24 August 2020, Tolvanen returned to original club, Jokerit of the KHL, on loan until the commencement of the delayed 2020–21 North American season. He made 25 further appearances for Jokerit, posting 5 goals and 13 points, before returning to North America on 15 December 2020.

In the midst of his sixth year within the Predators organization during the 2022–23 season, Tolvanen having appeared in 13 games and contributing with 4 points was placed on waivers on 11 December 2022. His tenure with the Predators came at an end the following day after he was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Kraken. He scored his first goal for Seattle on 1 January 2023, a power play goal against the New York Islanders.