Eeli Tolvanen Signs With Jokerit Helsinki

It was basically confirmed last month that Eeli Tolvanen would no longer be attending Boston College to play hockey, allegedly because he failed to earn enough credits to graduate from high school. Tolvanen was supposed to be BC’s top recruit this fall and was drafted by the Nashville Predators with the 30th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Since the announcement was made that BC admissions had rejected him, the big question has been: “Where will he play in 2017-18?” The OHL was originally the most popular guess, with rumors also floating that he would head to the AHL or find another college to attend (somehow). Most recently the common assumption (thanks to a PA announcement made during Nashville’s development camp) has been that Tolvanen was planning on heading back to Finland.

This morning, it was confirmed that Tolvanen will, in fact, be returning to Finland to continue his hockey career. He has signed a one year contract (containing an option for the 2018-19 season) with Jokerit Helsinki. Jokerit, previously a member of the Finnish Liiga, joined the KHL in the 2014-15 season. It is one of 6 non-Russian KHL teams (the others are located in Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Slovakia).