One of the sport's more enduring maxims is that development is seldom linear. Players develop at their own rate and should be given the freedom to do so without being encumbered with comparables to all-stars and lofty expectations out of the gate.

What inevitably happens is as a player charts his course from junior to pro to the NHL, they end up falling into a certain set of boxes.

The sure thing. The late-bloomer. The disappointment. The post-hype sleeper.

The latter case is an interesting one because, in its essence, it captures exactly what we're trying to achieve. A reduction of immediate pressures and freedom to develop and find their place in the NHL without the vitriol that can spew when expectations are not immediately met.

Eeli Tolvanen is just another example of one such player.