Eeli Tolvanen is a savvy addition for Rangers

The New York Rangers added another piece to their puzzle on Tuesday, signing winger Eeli Tolvanen to a one-year contract for the 2026-27 NHL season, bringing him in from the Seattle Kraken.

While the Finnish forward has scored at an inconsistent rate throughout his career, it could prove a savvy move for the Rangers on a cap hit of $1.5 million for the season. With 12 goals and 24 assists in 78 games with the Kraken last season, he’ll be hoping to keep up a similar pace or find improvement in Manhattan this season. 

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, co-hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton dove into Tolvanen’s fit in New York and how the Rangers could benefit from the 2026 Olympic bronze medalist. 

Tyler Yaremchuk:  He’s a guy who had 36 points and 12 goals last year for the Seattle Kraken in a year where his shooting percentage fell by 50% compared to the season before, when he scored 23 goals with the Kraken. Before that, it was 16 goals and before that, 16 goals in only 48 games with the Kraken. This is a guy who, when he gets hot, finds a way to score. He has some history on the penalty kill. It’s a nice ad. It’s a small piece for the New York Rangers, but they got him on a one-year deal. If the Rangers are good, it’ll probably be in part because Tolvanen helps with depth scoring and gives them a solid middle-six winger. 

And if the Rangers aren’t good, you keep 50%; you ditch that guy at the Trade Deadline, and you probably end up getting something decent for him. But Tolvanen is one of those guys who I’m curious if he maybe just overplayed his hand a bit in free agency? Did he maybe think there was a 2-3 year deal at maybe $2-$3 million out there? Maybe he thought that was coming based on the fact that he has a 20-goal campaign on his resume, and it just never really came across the desk.

Carter Hutton: I think that’s the factor of when you look at guys that were available and out there, but you’re getting a younger player who could maybe play into that role and play up, and he could be a good fit. 

I also think there’s pressure on a player like this to be good because you’re on a one-year deal at $1.5 million. It applies a lot of pressure, and something I remember feeling throughout my career when you didn’t have that term on your deal, like the motivation to be good and consistent and bring it every single night, knowing what’s lurking over you, is, I think, a smart play by Chris Drury here in the New York Rangers, adding this piece at low risk too, right? So maybe it goes really well, and you can sign him to an extension as the season goes on, or if the season’s not going well, he becomes a piece at the deadline, and he could go somewhere, and he could help out a bottom six on a really good contender.

I think he’s going to play better minutes in New York because of the way they’re structured, but there’s a lot of leverage here, and I think for him the ball is in New York’s court in the sense that this is a show-me deal, so this is a good opportunity for him to do well at $1.5.

You can catch the full Tolvanen breakdown and the rest of Wednesday’s show here…