Early Notes: Tolvanen, Capuano, Hamonic

Top draft prospect Eeli Tolvanen, a Finnish winger who has played hockey in the USHL for the past two years, was expected to go to Boston College in the fall. That will no longer happen, as according to USHR Tolvanen has failed to pass the admission standards for BC and will not be admitted. He’ll instead have to look for an opportunity elsewhere.

The Oshawa Generals own his rights in the CHL, or he could find a home at a lesser university or in Europe. He had been climbing up boards, even ranked 8th among North American skaters by CSS. He finished 17th on Bob McKenzie’s final list for TSN, but may end up in the bottom third of the first round after this news. Though it obviously looked bad from the outside, teams will have a much better insight from their meetings with him.

• Darren Dreger of TSN confirms something that Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has been chasing, that Jack Capuano will join the Florida Panthers as an associate coach. Capuano was fired from the New York Islanders midway through the 2016-17 season, the only organization he’s ever coached for. After coming up through the AHL system, Capuano took over in 2010-11 and led the Islanders to three playoff experiences. He’ll take care of the defense and penalty kill in Florida.
• Discussion around Travis Hamonic continues, with Friedman saying on radio (via Chris Nicholls of FanRag Sports) that the Flames and Leafs are both interested. Friedman believes the Islanders are looking for two first-round picks for the defenseman, who has three years left at a reasonable $3.8MM cap hit. Hamonic’s actual salary is $4.9MM for the next few years, which may deter some teams from going after him.