The Nashville Predators selected Eeli Tolvanen 30th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and scouts and analysts are already starting to call him the steal of the draft even though he hasn’t made his NHL debut yet.
The 18-year-old has been tearing it up all year long with his KHL club Jokerit Helsinki and he added to his impressive year in Jokerit’s recent win over SKA with a beautiful goal that he somehow managed to sneak right under the crossbar.
The goal was the Vihti, Finland native’s first goal since returning from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and first since November 24, but it happened to be his 18th of the season to give him 35 points in 48 games, the most points by any player under the age of 20 in KHL history and the most goals by any player under the age of 19.
If he can carry this type of play over to the NHL it’s going to make other teams hate playing the Predators even more, and there’s a possibility that comes this season if he joins Nashville once Jokerit’s season wraps up.
(H/T Twitter/khl)
