Tolvanen Signed; the Forward Group Is Done

The Rangers agreed to a one-year deal with Eeli Tolvanen on September 1, and that's more or less the last piece of a forward-depth overhaul that's been running since July. Between Pavel Dorofeyev arriving from Vegas, the former Canadiens forward added late in August, and now Tolvanen, the new front office has layered in options behind Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad at a pace that would have been hard to imagine when this team was grinding through a 3-11 January.

The one thing the signings can't resolve is Matt Rempe. I wrote last week that there was still no timeline on his return from injured reserve, and nothing has changed. His ice time was already sliding in the final stretch of last season before he landed on IR in late July, which raises the reasonable question of how long the injury had actually been a factor. The Rangers haven't said, and camp is close.

Tolvanen gives the organization another body if Rempe isn't ready, but that's not really the same thing. Rempe's role isn't about point production — it's about presence, and that's harder to replicate off a depth signing. The forward group on paper looks substantially better than it did in April. Whether it holds up depends partly on a question the Rangers still haven't answered.