With the rise of Eeli Tolvanen this season for the Nashville Predators, it seems like a good time to look back on other rookies that have had strong seasons in franchise history.
Tolvanen is quickly rising into a top player for the Predators after taking some time in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals to fine tune his game. Anyone who called him a bust should be publicly shamed now, or is that too harsh?
The NHL is unlike any other sport when it comes to making a quick impact as a rookie. It’s not as straight forward as other professional leagues like the NFL and NBA where rookies regularly make immediate splashes.
One of the great things we all love about sports is seeing a rookie phenom take the league by storm, and Predators fans are getting a taste of that this season with Tolvanen, and some others on the team as well.
There hasn’t been a lot of rookie splashes in recent years for the Predators, which is a contributing factor as to why this injection of youth is so refreshing this season.
With the Nashville Predators currently catching that rookie fever and being carried by the youth of their team, we thought it would be a good time to look back on the most successful rookie campaigns in franchise history.