The Rangers are finally set to get Joonas Korpisalo back in the mix, and that means James Reimer is heading back down.
Korpisalo will be activated off injured reserve on Saturday after missing the start of the season with a lower-body injury and infection, according to Newsday Sports’ Colin Stephenson. To make the move work, New York assigned Reimer to the minor leagues after he cleared waivers on Friday.
For the Rangers, this is the kind of goalie shuffle they’ve been waiting on. Dylan Garand has been carrying the load as the de facto starter, and he’s done it for a team that never found a reliable second option.
The NHL rookie has started 10 of the last 11 games, going 6-6-1 with a .906 save percentage. Add in his three NHL appearances last season, and Garand now sits at eight wins and a .916 Sv% in 16 career games.
Korpisalo gives New York a much-needed reset in the crease. Neither Reimer nor Spencer Martin managed to provide much help while filling in during Korpisalo’s absence.
Martin gave up three goals on 18 shots in 35 minutes, while Reimer allowed three goals on eight shots in 20 minutes. Neither one finished a full game for the Rangers.
Now the club gets the backup it expected to have when the season opened. Korpisalo arrived from the Boston Bruins on July 1st in a trade that sent forward prospect Kalle Vaisanen and a 2028 fourth-round pick the other way. He’s in the fourth year of the five-year, $20MM contract he signed with the Ottawa Senators in 2023.
That deal came before Korpisalo’s first real run as a starter. He played 55 games for Ottawa in 2023-24, finishing 21-26-4 with a .890 Sv%, a stretch that eventually led to his move when Ottawa acquired Linus Ullmark. Korpisalo then spent the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons backing up Jeremy Swayman in Boston, where he posted a combined 25-19-9 record and .893 Sv% in 58 appearances.
The Rangers are still nowhere near the goalie room they planned on entering the season with, led by former Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. His season ended early because of injury, and New York has spent much of the past month searching for something steady in net. Korpisalo may not bring eye-popping numbers, but if he’s healthy, the Rangers at least have two options again - and Garand should finally get some relief.
Reimer’s next stop is the minors, where he already made one clean impression. He posted a shutout in his only appearance with the Hartford Wolf Pack this season, stopping all 35 shots he faced. Before that, he had played just one other AHL game in the last 15 years, a six-goal loss with the Belleville Senators last season.
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