New York Rangers know the big moves President and General Manager Chris Drury made this offseason as his significant steps into the team's rebuild. The defense is notably improved with the additions of Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi. They have a new young scorer in Pavel Dorofeyev. But with training camp approaching, it was evident that the Rangers still had a pretty significant need. And that was at forward.
A top line forward simply wasn't available for the Rangers as training camp got closer. But, there were middle six options available for the Rangers. While transactions around the league were rather dormant for the last month-plus, things have begun to heat up as training camp approaches. As of Tuesday, the Rangers are in the process of bringing in a new forward.
PuckPedia was first to report that the Rangers were closing in on a one-year, $1.5 million deal with former Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen. On Wednesday, the Rangers officially announced the signing. With that, Drury might have made the Rangers' sneakiest good move of the offseason.
Eeli Tolvanen can help shore up Rangers' middle six forward group
Since the end of the surge of free agency signings in early July, Tolvanen ranked highly as one of the better free agents available on the open market. It was a bit of a surprise that through August, Tolvanen was still unsigned. For Drury, the waiting game obviously panned out, as they signed him to a relatively cheap contract.
Tolvanen will bring the Rangers some scoring ability to their second or third lines if that is the route that head coach Mike Sullivan chooses. Since the 2022-23 season, Tolvanen recorded at least 31 points annually. Tolvanen is also just two years removed from when he scored a career-best 23 goals in the 2024-25 season. If he can replicate that, that would be a welcome scoring punch for the Rangers on the second or third lines.
This past season with Seattle, Tolvanen recorded 12 goals and 24 assists through 78 games.
Tolvanen is the only NHL player with at least 100 points, 600 hits, and 200 blocked shots over the last 3 seasons. During the same time period, only Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson had both more points and hits than Tolvanen. @NYRangers @RangersMSGN @MSGNetworks https://t.co/AhO6b32c03
— Kenny Albert (@KennyAlbert) September 2, 2026
What Tolvanen also brings is some grit and is not shy in dishing out some hits on the ice. In two of the past three seasons, Tolvanen recorded over 200 hits. That has to be something that the Rangers, Drury, and Sullivan have to like about his game. After all, they did trade away one of their grittier players in Vincent Trocheck, so there is a void.
Plus, who knows? Maybe Tolvanen can put up better numbers, especially with a better supporting cast in New York?
Eeli Tolvanen's additions allows Rangers to be more patient with top forward prospects
Before signing Tolvanen, the forward group was looking pretty dire. Sure, it was top-heavy with the likes of Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafrenière, J.T. Miller, Gabe Perreault, and Dorofeyev, but behind them, there was a drop-off. With no signings looking to be on the horizon, given the lack of news in the NHL, there was a possibility that the Rangers may have to give one of their top prospects a shot.
Liam Greentree and Cole Beaudoin, two of the Rangers' new prospects acquired in the Artemi Panarin and Trocheck trades, feasibly had a path to the NHL if they impressed in training camp and in preseason games. It would have certainly brought some excitement to the Rangers fanbase.
But now with Tolvanen, the Rangers could go in the direction that they were perhaps most comfortable with, and that's being more patient with the likes of Greentree and Beaudoin. That could very well mean playing most, if not all, of the upcoming season in Hartford in the AHL.
The Rangers have made some big moves this offseason in hopes that they will help them get back to the playoffs. Perhaps Drury's most savvy, however, was bringing in Tolvanen a matter of days before the start of training camp on an affordable deal. If Tolvanen can score 20 goals this upcoming season, it might be the steal of the offseason. Of course, if the Rangers' season doesn't pan out as they had anticipated, they could flip him to a playoff contender for more assets, especially if he plays well.
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