New year, a new player finally makes his debut.
Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen played his first game for the team on January 1, 2023, at home versus the New York Islanders.
It didn’t take much time to make an impact with his new club. At the 3:58 mark of the second period, Tolvanen scored on the power play off a Vince Dunn pass which turned out to be the eventual game-winning goal to help Seattle snap a three-game losing streak.
A former first-round pick in 2017, 30th overall. After a respectable 2021/22 season with Nashville putting up 23 points in 75 games, looking like he was starting to find a permanent spot in their top-6 forwards and seeing power play time. Things quickly changed after a slow start to the 2022/23 season, with four points in 13 games. Tolvanen quickly became a healthy scratch and was put on waivers on December 11, 2022, giving the Kraken and every other NHL team a chance to claim him.
Taking almost three weeks to make his Kraken debut is a bit puzzling, but whatever the plan was, early results show the wait might be worth it. Only 23 years old, Tolvanen should get a chance to prove he can be a solid top-9 contributor with Seattle. Don’t be surprised to see him in their top-6 with steady powerplay time as the season progresses. He has the talent; Seattle might be the perfect landing spot to show Nashville what they gave up on.
