NHL rookies you have to pick up in fantasy hockey for 2018-19

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadians pose for a picture of the 2018 NHL draft on June 22, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 23: Eeli Tolvanen, 30th overall pick of the Nashville Predators, poses for a portrait during Round One of the 2017 NHL Draft at United Center on June 23, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /

2. F Eeli Tolvanen

The Nashville Predators really wanted Eeli Tolvanen to come over from the KHL. They wanted him so badly that they made him the first NHL prospect selected outside of the top two draft positions to receive full schedule bonuses. So what’s all the hype about?

He represented Finland this year in both the World Junior Championships and the Olympics. Even after missing all this time to those obligations, he scored more goals than any other player under the age of 19, and put up the most points by any player under the age of 20 in KHL history. As a 30th overall selection, he may very well be the steal of the 2017 entry draft.

Predicting just where he will spend most of his time next season is difficult at this point, but with his offensive skills, it seems hard to believe he’ll be relegated to bottom-six duties. He’s a goal scorer, and would look real good lining up with Forsberg and a pure-playmaker like Johansen who can find space and feed him the puck. A stacked defense and world-class goalie playing behind him will help shield any defensive deficiencies he may exhibit as he acclimates to the NHL game.

Playing on a stacked Nashville roster will also help his secondary statistics, so he makes a safe bet as a depth addition in your draft, with tremendous upside should the line combinations shake out favorably. While the organization’s depth may prevent him from big minutes at first, his skill should be too much for the Predators to hold back for long.

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