The Rangers’ goaltending picture is drawing some sharp concern, and the focus isn’t where plenty of fans might expect. The worry is not Igor Shesterkin nearly as much as the battle behind him, where Joonas Korpisalo and Dylan Garand are fighting for the backup role.
A veteran scout offered a blunt read on the situation, saying Shesterkin should see heavy usage if the current setup holds. “That,” says Honest Scout, “means Shesterkin gets a minimum of 54 games.
And that tells me that Igor will lose more than half of those. And that is a legitimate concern at this point.”
After a pause, he added, “Personally, I believe that Igor is in for 65 games - and I don't mean 'maybe' either!”
That kind of workload naturally raises the next question: does general manager Chris Druty go looking for a more established backup during the season, and if so, what would have to be moved to make it happen?
The scout pointed to the familiar trade-off front offices face. “General managers generally have two possible answers: One: 'I don't want to trade picks because I want to use them. Or, Two: I'll trade picks because I won't be here long enough. to use them anyway.
"I can tell you from experience that the scouting staff gets ornery when picks get moved. On the other hand, coaches will mortgage the whole farm to get quality bodies since they couldn't care less about draft picks.”
The message was clear enough: keep watching this as the season goes on.
The conversation also turned to the idea of strong backup goalies from the recent past, with Glenn Healy, Rollie Melanson, Steve Weeks and Ty Conklin mentioned as examples.
And with Shesterkin carrying an $11 million price tag, the expectation for the No. 2 goalie is straightforward. As the scout put it, “With eleven million bucks invested in Igor, that competition needs to be pretty high end and - if you're very lucky - fairly inexpensive.
"The reason I say that is because no one making that coin is playing behind anyone. And, finally, getting what Jonathan Quick should have been behind a healthy Igor last year, is exactly what you are looking for!”
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