The Rangers still have one of their most important preseason questions hanging in the air, and it comes down to who backs up Igor Shesterkin.
New York is only halfway through its exhibition slate, having already faced the Devils and Islanders once each. The results have gone in the wrong direction - the Rangers are 0-2-0 - but the games have still offered some encouraging signs. Young players have popped, and the new faces on the roster have already started to leave a mark.
Even so, the No. 2 goalie job remains unsettled heading into the final two preseason games, and the latest plan points in a clear direction. Dylan Garand started the opener against New Jersey and looked sharp, turning aside 28 of 31 shots against an NHL-level lineup. But he does not appear to be in line for either of the final two exhibition starts.
According to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic on X, the Rangers are expected to start Joonas Korpisalo against the Devils on Thursday night, with the plan for him to play the full game.
Igor Shesterkin is then expected to follow the same approach against the Islanders on Sept. 25.
Sullivan says the plan is to play Korpisalo for the full game tonight. I would imagine Igor does the same tomorrow. #NYR
That setup leaves Garand as the only other goalie left in camp after Spencer Martin was waived on Sept. 23. Based on projected lineups, Garand will serve as the No. 2 behind Korpisalo against New Jersey.
With camp and preseason shortened, that first game against the Devils may have been Garand’s only real chance to make his case for the backup role behind Shesterkin.
The signs now are leaning toward Korpisalo opening the season as the backup, even though there’s an argument that Garand should be the choice instead. If the Rangers decide to waive Garand and try to send him through to the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL, that would be a dangerous gamble.
Claims are rare, but they do happen. Last year, only 10 claims were made among 233 players. Still, because so many teams are always searching for goaltending help, Garand would likely be a more attractive target than a skater.
Losing the 24-year-old would hurt the organization’s depth. Garand showed well in his NHL debut near the end of the 2025-26 season and still has room to grow. The Rangers already know what they have in Korpisalo and Martin, and the picture there is not especially inspiring.
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For a team trying to build some early confidence, it was the kind of performance that checked a lot of boxes without asking the staff to read too much into the result. The Rangers have now strung together two straight preseason wins, and after the offensive showing on Long Island, they have at least given their fans a reason to feel better about where things stand before the opener in Boston. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes the wait interesting is the shape of the roster itself. New York has already trimmed its camp group and is still staring at a shortage of clear center options, which has fueled the idea that the answer could come from outside the organization. The waiver wire is part of the conversation now, and the next move may say as much about the teams depth concerns as the preseason finale did about its top-end readiness. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Face One Season-Defining Question Heading Into 2026-27
The Rangers head toward 2026-27 with a much cleaner-looking backbone than they have had in recent seasons. Between Adam Fox, Vlad Gavrikov and Igor Shesterkin, the club has the kind of defensive and goaltending structure that can keep games manageable, and that is usually the starting point for any team trying to steady itself in the East.
Still, the real question is whether the rest of the roster can do enough to turn that stability into wins. New Yorks season could swing quickly depending on health and the growth of its younger forwards, with the gap between a playoff berth and a frustrating year likely resting on whether the offense finds enough consistency to support the pieces already in place. [Read more 🡒]