The Rangers spent the summer trying to give their forward group a different look, and Eeli Tolvanen is part of the payoff.
New York came into the offseason needing an offensive reset, and general manager Chris Drury didn’t wait around for the existing core to sort itself out. He went out and added Pavel Dorofeyev, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen, three forwards who now look like strong bets to claim three of the six spots in the Rangers’ top six heading into the 2026-27 season.
Dorofeyev is the headliner of the bunch. Acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade, the 25-year-old gives the Rangers another real goal scorer - the kind who can create his own shot and doesn’t need much space to let it fly.
Put him next to a playmaker such as Mika Zibanejad or J.T. Miller, and New York suddenly has another dangerous option up front while easing some of the burden on the rest of the group.
The source material even suggests the move could age into one of the best trades in Rangers history, and the reason is simple: Dorofeyev is a very good player with a high hockey IQ who can score 35 goals.
Bjorkstrand brings a different kind of value. Signed to a one-year deal, he adds experience and lineup flexibility in the middle of the group.
He’s a shooter by nature and wants the puck on net, which fits especially well for a rebuilding team. But he also has the ability to slide into the second line and produce 30 goals and 30 assists.
His run with the Tampa Bay Lightning knocked his career off track a bit, but the skill set is still there, and the Rangers believe he can fit into the top six nicely based on what he showed last season.
Tolvanen is the final piece, and he may be the sneaky one. He just signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal, and at 27 he gives the Rangers yet another legitimate scorer.
His shot is described as very dangerous, and he’s coming off a 23-goal season. He might not break into the top six strictly on talent, but he’s still the kind of under-the-radar pickup teams tend to regret passing on.
That’s the bigger picture here: the Rangers needed to reshape their top six, and after the Vincent Trochek trade, that didn’t look especially likely. Drury still did the work, and the result is a group that can now feature Miller, Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere, Dorofeyev, Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen. It’s a quieter kind of overhaul, but it gives New York real depth where it needed it most.
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Rangers Have Elite Stars But This Ranking Raises A Bigger Roster Debate
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What makes the list more interesting for New York is the company those two keep further down the board. Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller were among the Rangers grouped into the Support tier, the kind of placement that underscores how much of the roster is built around excellent contributors rather than a long line of true drivers. For a team with championship expectations, that gap between star power and supporting cast is the part worth watching. [Read more 🡒]