The Rangers may have a useful answer waiting behind Igor Shesterkin, even if Dylan Garand didn’t make the cut on the latest goaltending prospects rankings for all 32 teams.
Garand, a 24-year-old from Victoria, B.C., was the Rangers’ top goaltending prospect last season, but he’s no longer on that list. The omission has raised some eyebrows, especially after what he already showed in New York.
In three games with the Rangers last season, Garand put up a 1.62 goals against average and a .948 save percentage, finishing 2-0-1 in those starts. He also spent time with Hartford, where he was selected for the 2025 AHL All Star Challenge and served as the Wolf Pack’s primary goaltender even as the team finished last in its division, eight points from the bottom and 12 out of playoff position.
Those numbers make Garand’s case pretty easy to see. He looked steady in his NHL cameo, and in Hartford he was the one keeping things afloat while the team struggled around him.
The wrinkle now is competition. Garand is not expected to walk into the backup job behind Shesterkin, and he’ll have to battle Joonas Korpisalo when training camp opens in a few weeks.
Korpisalo, 32, was acquired from Boston on July 1 and has posted a 3.15 goals against average and a .892 save percentage over his last three seasons with the Bruins and Senators. That sets up a camp battle worth watching.
There’s also a contract layer to this. Garand signed a two-year extension with the Rangers this summer, and it begins as a two-way deal, which means he would earn less in Hartford if that’s where he lands.
In the second year, it becomes a one-way contract, during the 2027-28 NHL season, so he’d make the same salary whether he’s in New York or Hartford. He is also no longer exempt from waivers, which means the Rangers would have to try to get him through at the start of the year if he doesn’t make the opening-night roster.
That’s a gamble, and the hope is that he clears. The Rangers have reasons to believe he can keep building off the solid work he showed in those three emergency starts with Shesterkin unavailable.
Korpisalo’s $3 million backup cap hit adds another layer to the picture. The Rangers had enough cap room to give Garand a strong deal, but the veteran’s arrival still gives Garand extra motivation heading into camp if he wants to lock down the No. 2 spot.
Even with the surprise around his absence from the top 25 list, there are clear reasons Garand was left out. He’s 24, which puts him right on the older end for a prospect, and he just turned that age in June.
He’s also viewed as an emergency goalie more than a full-time NHL option at this point, even though he was a true starter in Hartford. And while the jump from the AHL to the NHL is never small, Jonathan Quick retiring this summer at least opened up one spot.
Still, moving from the minors to a regular NHL role in one season is a major leap no matter where a goalie starts.
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