Gens nab Finnish star in import draft
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
The Gens have picked a player projected to go in the top 10 of next year’s NHL draft. There is only one challenge – administration needs to lure him away from his commitment to play south of the border.
Oshawa selected Eeli Tolvanen in the first round of the CHL Import Draft. The Finnish prospect has been touted as a top-10 pick for next year’s NHL Entry Draft and absolutely shone at this year’s U18 World Championships, leading Finland to a gold-medal as an underager.
“He blew it apart,” says Roger Hunt, Oshawa’s general manager, who had a chance to catch Tolvanen in action at the tournament first hand.
For that reason, he was an obvious pick in the draft. However, he may have been passed over by previous clubs, due to a June 13 announcement via Twitter that Tolvanen had committed to playing hockey next season for Boston College.
“The gamble is certainly that we may not get him this year,” Hunt says.
“I’m hopeful that we would. I’m going to leave no stone unturned to try and get him and if it’s not this year, than we hope it’s next year.”
Hunt says that despite the risk, picking the six-foot, 180-pound right-winger was a no brainer.
“He’s a highly skilled, talented player that scores goals,” he says.
“When we do our lists (for the draft), we do guys we can’t let pass by…has was the number one name on that list.”
The native of Nummela, Finland, spent his last season playing in North America with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. In 49 games, he scored 17 goals and 21 assists.
For Hunt, there are several reasons a player would choose to play north of the border. First and foremost, many NHL clubs see the Canadian market as a closer kin to the NHL than its American counterparts.
Oshawa’s team, with a number of draft eligible prospects, will be seeing a lot of scouts hanging around the General Motors Centre this season, which could be an enticing factor for a player looking to get some attention.
“I think the NHL scout traffic in Oshawa next year will be pretty heavy,” Hunt says.
“It’s all about being exposed to these scouts and letting them see you play and hopefully we can get that point across and help ourselves and certainly help Eeli to be an Oshawa General.”
Oshawa also found itself with a second round pick in the draft and picked up Latvia native Renars Krastenbergs.
The 18-year-old also had a strong performance at the U18 championships, leading his club with eight points, and last season with the TPH Thunder AA team, he tallied nine goals and nine assists in 30 games.
Hunt feels confident fans can expect Krastenbergs in the lineup this season. The young player is represented by the same agent that helped Tobias Lindberg and Lukas Lofquist don the Oshawa uniform.
“We’ve got some level of comfort and the agent knows how we treat players and he’s certainly comfortable getting one his players here to come to Oshawa,” Hunt explains.
The Oshawa Generals open their season on the road Sept. 23 in Sudbury, and will mark their home opener a week later on Sept. 30 against the Peterborough Petes.