Can a 24-Year-Old Rookie Goaltender Backup the 26-27 NY Rangers?
One week from now, the New York Rangers open their 26-27 season at TD Garden at 8:00 p.m. EST. Preseason has officially kicked off for the Blueshirts, and a few younglings are making their case to join the Rangers on the ice. Despite an unfortunate 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils big boys last night, a few youngsters stood out. Anton Blidh and Drew Fortescue put in a nice pair of goals to keep it close, but the real person to thank for making this a game was the 24-year-old rookie goaltender. A solid outing against most of New Jersey’s NHL players makes quite a few fans wonder: Is Dylan Garand ready to play backup on this Rangers team permanently?
Brought up on multiple occasions without making his first career start, Garand finally debuted on March 22nd last season, stopping 35 of 37 shots in a 3-2 shootout loss to Winnipeg. Since then, the rookie goaltender has started two more games, winning both 6-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks and 4-2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning to close out the regular season. Garand has had an impressive first few games, and after last night's performance, he's made a strong case for the backup spot-so who’s to say he can't beat Joonas Korpisalo in the race? Recording 28 saves on 31 shots, with two of his goals allowed being on fortunate bounces for New Jersey, makes this backup goaltender battle even more interesting.
With Mike Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff considering carrying three goalies, it’s easy to see how much they wanna give the kid a chance in the net this year. After acquiring Korpisalo from Boston in exchange for forward Kalle Vaisanen and a 2028 fourth-round pick, it still seems likely the Blueshirts will start the year with him as backup, but will Garand stay up or be sent down? If they send him down to Hartford, the 24-year-old will need to go on waivers, and as a young player with real promise, it's unlikely he’ll clear. Despite preseason meaning very little compared to the regular season, there’s not much time with such a condensed preseason this year, meaning Garand may have had his only chance of making an argument to join the big boys on the ice, and boy, did he not let it go to waste.
