The Rangers don’t need to sprint into a goalie trade, but the market around them could soon start moving anyway.
With Igor Shesterkin out for the season, New York is still weighing its options in net. The encouraging part is that Dylan Garand has given the club some breathing room, which means there isn’t an immediate panic move looming. Still, the Rangers could end up in the middle of a larger chain reaction tied to Connor Hellebuyck.
Hellebuyck’s situation has been hanging out there since before training camp, when he publicly asked for a trade from the Winnipeg Jets and was suspended by the team. The market hasn’t exactly exploded, but there has been more movement lately.
The Rangers don’t fit as an obvious destination for Hellebuyck because of the money left on his deal and the price Winnipeg would demand. Even so, his availability could trigger a domino effect that lands a different goalie elsewhere.
That’s where Brandon Bussi enters the picture.
Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic floated the idea while discussing New York’s goaltending plans. If the Carolina Hurricanes become a Hellebuyck destination, Mercogliano raised the question of whether general manager Chris Drury would check on what it would take to land Bussi. The wrinkle, though, is that Carolina has enough cap room to potentially keep both Hellebuyck and Bussi on the roster.
Even with that caveat, Bussi is worth watching. He was part of the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup run last season, stepping in late in the series for Frederik Andersen and helping Carolina beat the Vegas Golden Knights. In four starts, Bussi posted a .931 save percentage and a 1.60 goals allowed average while helping the Hurricanes to three wins.
His numbers this season have been more uneven. Bussi has started five games and gone 2-2-1 with a .881 save percentage and a 2.98 goals allowed average. He has been sharing the crease with Pyotr Kochetkov, who is 6-0-0 with a .899 save percentage and a 1.98 goals allowed average.
If Hellebuyck were to land in Carolina, one of those two goalies would have to be moved. The Hurricanes could certainly choose to keep Bussi after what he did for them in June, but Hellebuyck’s contract runs through the 2030-31 season at $8.5 million per year, making him the long-term answer in net.
For the Rangers, Bussi would also come with a much friendlier price tag than some of the other names they’ve been tied to. He signed a three-year, $5.7 million extension that begins this season and runs through the summer of 2029, which works out to $1.9 million per year. That would be a cleaner cap fit, especially once Shesterkin returns next season.
New York has also been linked to Karel Vejmelka of the Utah Mammoth and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen of the Buffalo Sabres. Vejmelka is under contract at $4.75 million per year through the 2029-30 season, while Luukkonen carries the same annual number through the 2028-29 season. Both would ask the Rangers to make a meaningful commitment, and neither is being described as an elite option.
For now, the Rangers have the luxury of patience. Garand’s play has kept them from needing to force the issue, though that could change quickly if the team runs into a skid. They can go in several different directions, but if Hellebuyck’s saga shakes loose Bussi, that would give New York another intriguing path to explore.
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