Perfectly Aligned in Seattle

The word “perfect” can be a treacherous descriptor for any hockey player or athlete for that matter. Hockey is a game in which mistakes are made by the best players and clutch scorers practically every shift. Golfers at the top of the international rankings have bogeys on their scorecards even as they accept trophies and prize money checks. Perfect is hard.

But, still, Eeli Tolvanen, now in his second calendar year of a proof case, is arguably the perfect linemate for Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand on this Kraken roster.

“He’s awesome,” said Gourde before Saturday’s road game in Philadelphia. “He plays physical, plays the right way, doesn’t cut corners, doesn’t cheat. Those are things you want in a guy on your line. His shot and hockey IQ are elite, it’s fun playing with him.”

Along with fun times – the three forwards are all not shy about ribbing the others, even on the bench after a shift – the Gourde line has provided consistency all season long for teammates and coaching staff alike. Only four other NHL lines (one each in Dallas and Nashville, plus two for the New York Islanders) have played more minutes than the Gourde line’s 408 minutes of time on ice (as of the All-Star break).

Add productivity to the fun and stability: Both Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand have logged 13 goals on the season. Tolavanen is one point off his season-high for total points (in just 51 games) and only three goals shy of his career-high 16 goals, which he set last year in just a half-season with the Kraken. Before that, the 2017 first-round draft choice of the Nashville Predators, 11 goals represented his high mark.

For his part, 2024 NHL All-Star Bjorkstrand is on pace to bust his career numbers for goals and assists. Both wings are potent power-play scorers with Bjorkstrand posting six goals and 11 assists while Tolvanen has notched six assists (he had four power-play goals last season with an instant chemistry with defenseman/power-play quarterback Vince Dunn. Tolvanen has a game-winning goal in his credits this year and scored late in Detroit to force overtime and Kraken win. Linemate Bjorkstrand has two game-winning goals.

And that’s all before discussing the details of Tolavanen’s two-way play. Touted as an elite shooter and high-potential scorer, the Finland-born forward attracted NHL scouts with his output for USHL Sioux City, and then Nashville called him up late in the 2017-18 season after Tolvanen held his own in the KHL at age 18, scoring 19 goals and adding 17 assists in 49 games. But in another wise move by the Kraken hockey operations group, picking up Tolvanen on waivers was about more than scoring.

The Kraken hockey brain trust sensed a player who was capable of playing a two-way game and poised to unlock his first-round promise. Tolvanen credits his American Hockey League Milwaukee Admirals coach Karl Taylor, who persuaded the top draft choice he needed to contribute in all zones to stick on the Nashville roster or with any NHL franchise.

Fast forward to this season: Emblematic of his 200-foot prowess on the ice, Tolvanen was leading the Kraken with 133 hits going into post-break play, bettering the team’s most physical defenders, Will Borgen and Adam Larsson, along with Tye Kartye and linemate Gourde, who rounds out the top five.

Dave Hakstol has told reporters that Tolvanen was “a little bit of an unknown commodity” for his coaching staff, but with two weeks of practicing and learning the Kraken systems of play in the second half of December 2023, Hakstol was seeing a “hungry” player (“evident right away”) who was going to the attend to the small details that, say, get a puck back in the offensive zone to understanding where his linemates are on the ice (“we’re connected, we know where we are going,” said Bjorkstrand) to knowing when to unleash his one-timer shot (which Vince Dunn recommends is “always” when the defenseman passes him the puck in the offensive zone during a power play).

“His offense is what everyone focuses on, but he's a really good two-way player,” Hakstol told gathered media in Nashville when he was there for the NHL Awards in which he was a finalist for the Jack Adams award for best coach. “He's willing to do anything [beyond] offensively, shot-blocking, physical, taking care of pucks on the wall."

More evidence of a being an ideal linemate: Tolvanen was fifth on the team in blocked shots, 52 in 50 games, right there with Alex Wennberg (4^th with 56) behind leader Jamie Oleksiak and the aforementioned Larsson and Borgen.

Tolvanen, who is still just 24 years old, has pried his way into Kraken lore in his 13-plus months wearing the “S”: He scored a goal in his first game last Jan. 1 and did it again this New Year’s Day, notching the opening goal of the 2024 NHL Winter Classic to thunderous noise at the Mariners ballpark. He also scored the first goal just three-and-a-half minutes into Seattle’s first-ever postseason, setting a 3-1 Game 1 win and victorious tone for what turned into a seven-game series upset of defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado.

“It’s cool to score a goal again on January 1,” said Tolvanen, grinning after the Kraken’s 3-0 Winter Classic win over Vegas. “It’s the year anniversary of being in Seattle. What could have been better? I love it here.”

Tolvanen’s linemates, team, and coaching staff feel the same way about his spot on the lineup whiteboard.