Seattle Kraken Winger Could Land With New York Rangers In Free Agency

With free agency just a little more than a month out starting on July 1st, the New York Rangers will be one of the top teams to watch. 

New York is coming off of back-to-back seasons where their season ended after game 82. The Rangers have a desire to improve significantly and re-open a championship window. In order to open that window – which at this time is not even cracked open – New York will have to be aggressive in both the free agent and trade department this summer. A last-place finish in the Eastern Conference this year with a 34-39-9 record, is a true base of ‘it can only be up from here.’

Despite an uncompetitive season, the Rangers are adamant that they aren’t rebuilding. More so the MSG team will have to find a balance between being a game-in and game-out competitor, while also being a playoff contender. Ruling the Rangers out of a 2026/27 playoff bid would be understandable at this point based on how things just went, but with a lot of cap space available New York shouldn’t have a problem being a top free agent destination.

Very well the Rangers can turn things around during these long summer hockey-less months. Although this free agent class is lacking big star power names, it instead thrives in depth. 

One option for New York is Seattle Kraken winger Eli Tolvanen. 

The 27-year-old winger is not a first-line player, but as already said this free agent class thrives more in depth. Tolvanen tallied 36 points with 24 coming via assists as the west coast player could be a good option in the middle six over in New York. A lot of Tolvanen’s success came during power plays this past season, where he notched 5 goals and 9 assists.

Since being acquired by Seattle during the 2022-23 season, he has become a reliable 15 to 20 goal scorer. Overall, Tolvanen has been noted as a rather inconsistent offensive player which is why he has not gained first-line minutes.

The Fin may not be the biggest offensive player and is by far the lone piece that the Rangers need to fix a losing record, but Tolvanen would provide a solid base to start in free agency.

Tolvanen is projected to command a $3-to-$5 million AAV in free agency and is projected to land a short-term contract around 2 years. 

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