The DLLS Stars podcast kind of went off the rails last night. If you were fortunate — or unfortunate — enough to watch, the show devolved from a postgame breakdown...
The DLLS Stars podcast kind of went off the rails last night.
If you were fortunate — or unfortunate — enough to watch, the show devolved from a postgame breakdown into cavalcade of jokes and bits, eventually ending with some Revolutionary War History from me in front of an actual cannon.
Seriously, it all happened. Not sure why, but we had some fun.
After the game, while driving back from Columbus, I had a lengthy conversation with the DLLS Stars Podcast Fifth Beatle, Robert Tiffin, who has elevated Stars coverage to a new level this season with his work over at Stars Thoughts.
One of the things I like about Robert is that we tend to push each other, we make each other think and it drives some pretty fun conversations. Last night, while driving, we ended up in a deep chat about this team and what they need right now.
We both agree, they need a move and they need one soon. Watching the Stars live last night, you can tell it’s a team that is in the midst of a slog that reinforcements of any form could help. It’s also not a market, especially after some splashes by the Vegas Golden Knights, where there’s much of certain value available.
So, if you’re Jim Nill what do you do?
For me, as Robert and I discussed, it’s time to swing on buy-low candidates with potential upside.
So let’s talk about Eeli Tolvanen.
Tolvanen is in the midst of his fourth season with the Seattle Kraken after being claimed on waivers from the Nashville Predators in 2022. He’s been a softer scorer than his draft profile suggested, 90 goals in 393 career NHL contests, but he also has an innate ability the Stars are currently lacking beyond three or four forwards — a shooting touch that can cleanly beat goalies.
Yes, the Stars need to get dirtier in many ways. They need to get to the front of the net, they need to create more chaos, but they also need to get cleaner at the same time offensively. They need players that can actually beat a goalie on the rush with a shot, guys that open up space for others and if last night’s showing against the Columbus Blue Jackets is any indication, the depth forwards and even the not-so-depth forwards aren’t going to gain that magic touch.
Tolvanen isn’t a quantity shooter, but he’s a quality one that scored 23 goals on just 137 shots last season. He’s also gotten better defensively and in his two-way game, which is one of the reasons he was selected for Team Finland at the Olympics.
Best of all he’d be cheap. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent and one that’s making $3.475 million against the cap for the remainder of this season. The Kraken, in my view, aren’t going anywhere fast, and would probably be open to a trade of picks to unload a player that will likely walk on July 1.
Tolvanen also fits well into the Stars “Finnish Mafia” culturally, and with that aforementioned Olympic selection, has a nice opportunity to get get acclimated with Stars teammates during the Olympic Break in addition to official NHL activity.
I also look at things like past relationships and friendships when it comes to potential deals like this, not just nationality, but comfort points that would help a player connect to a new environment. Tolvanen and Miro Heiskanen are close, they played together as prospects at the 2018 Olympics and even filmed a commercial together back in Finland around that time.
And best yet, if it doesn’t work, Tolvanen doesn’t hurt your long-term cap plan or structure.
We keep waiting for a big shoe to drop, some big swing, and realistically that’s not going to happen this season for the Stars, especially before the Olympic break. But this team right now needs something to rally the troops, something to bring things together, and maybe we lean into the mantra a listener brought up on the show last night and make sure the Finnish are coming.
Category: General Sports
