We all know Igor Shesterkin will be the New York Rangers’ starting goaltender, but who will take on the backup position?
For the past three seasons, Jonathan Quick served as Shesterkin’s backup, but his retirement at the end of the 2025-26 season left a vacancy in the Rangers’ goaltending room.
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At the end of last season, Dylan Garand got an audition with the Blueshirts, playing in three games and recording a .948 save percentage and a 1.62 goals against average.
“It was great, such a good experience,” Garand said of his time with the Rangers to close out the season. “Obviously, waited my whole life for an opportunity like this, and yeah, it was everything I dreamed of.”
With Quick retiring, the tides seemed to be shifting in Garand’s direction to secure the backup goaltending role for the 2026-27 campaign.
The Rangers gave Garand a two-year contract extension late in June, which seemed to prove further that he would be on the NHL roster once training camp rolled around.
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“As far as Dylan, I couldn’t be happier for him, coming up and playing as solid as he did,” Rangers’ president and general manager Chris Drury said during his exit interview. “I was excited about what we saw, and we’re certainly looking at him and among other options as to see who could be backup.”
Despite all of the positive signs leaning toward Garand, the Rangers acquired veteran goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins on July 1 in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick.
Korpisalo comes in with a $3 million cap hit for the Rangers over the next two years, with the Bruins reportedly retaining $1 million per season from his current contract, which expires after the 2027-28 season.
Between Garand and Korpisalo, who will serve as the Rangers’ backup goaltender?
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While the Rangers are viewing the backup position as up for grabs and a competition between Korpisalo and Garand, it’s hard to imagine the Blueshirts not handing the job to Korpisalo.
Drury specifically sought out Korpisalo and used draft compensation to acquire him.
The 32-year-old goalie’s $3 million cap hit and 334 games of NHL experience make it more likely for the Rangers to give him the job over Garand, who’s on a league-minimum contract and has only 3 games of NHL experience.
If there were to be an early favorite to secure the backup goaltending role behind Shesterkin going into training camp, it would be Korpisalo.
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