The Rangers are signing forward Eeli Tolvanen to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.
Tolvanen, 27, has 92 goals and 98 assists in 423 career NHL games with Nashville and Seattle.
He had 23 goals and 12 assists two seasons ago with Seattle and 12 goals and 24 assists last season. His shooting percentage last season was about half of what it was two seasons ago when he scored 23 goals on just about the same amount of shots.
Adam Rotter: This is a low risk move to add some more scoring depth on the wing. Tolvanen likely slots into a spot on the third line next to Will Cuylle and Noah Laba. He can really shoot the puck and just makes the Rangers a deeper team in the top-nine. This signing also seems to reinforce the idea that the Rangers want guys like Liam Greentree to spend time in the AHL. It also means that there is really only one spot left in the lineup, two if you count Tye Kartye’s spot being up for grabs but I think he has a spot. That spot will be a battle between Taylor Raddysh, Adam Sykora, Jaro Chmelar, Matt Rempe and probably some others. Raddysh is the only one that really works as a spare forward since any of the rest would need to play. While Tolvanen is probably a better player to help the Rangers now, I had kind of hoped Chmelar would grab that open spot on the third line.
Still, this is a simple, no risk move for the Rangers and some more offensive insurance in case of injuries to players above him on the depth chart. Why he’s still a free agent when nearly every team has cap room is a bit interesting, but it works in the Rangers favor that he’s still around.