New York Rangers: Alexander Georgiev has earned the backup role
Though shaky in his time with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Alexandar Georgiev was on fire in the NHL. Have the New York Rangers found their backup goalie for next season?
The New York Rangers came into this season weak in the backup goalie position. After trading former backup Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes, the Rangers signed former Winnipeg Jet Ondrej Pavelec. Pavelec has not exactly had an outstanding career. His career save percentage is a .907 and his goals against average is 2.88. While not the worst stats, he isn’t exactly the caliber of goalie Raanta was.
Pavelec wound up preforming better than initially expected, but went down with a sprained MCL in February. This meant that the Rangers had to choose from the large amount of goalies being utilized by Hartford. They ultimately went with Alexandar Georgiev, who had started the most games of the three goalies.
In Hartford, Georgiev struggled. None of the Wolf Pack’s goalies seemed to truly get comfortable playing, leading to three goalies splitting the starts. In Georgiev’s 37 games played, he had a 2.98 goals against average and a .909 save percentage, the best save percentage between him, Chis Nell, and Marek Mazanec.
Georgiev managed to hit his stride at the right time. After being called up to the NHL, Georgiev’s save percentage jumped up to a .918. While his goals against average also jumped to a 3.15, Georgiev looked substantially more comfortable at the NHL level.He put on Henrik Lundqvist-esque performances, doing everything in his power to keep the puck out of the net and the Rangers in the game. His 4-4-1 record does not show the amount of heart Georgiev put into his game and the acrobatic performances he had.
Now for the biggest question: Is Alexandar Georgiev capable of being an NHL backup? In my opinion, yes.
He has earned it
Yes, Georgiev struggled in Hartford. But in his defense, the entire Hartford team struggled. They missed the playoffs yet again and went 34-33-6 throughout the regular season. They had no real star power (outside of Filip Chytil) and aren’t exactly outstanding on the offensive or defensive end. With the Wolf Pack cycling through a total of six goalies through the season. Georgiev never really had a chance to hit his stride, even though Ken started the most games of the Hartford goalie tandem.
Once Georgiev was called up and the organization showed their trust in him, his confidence was clearly boosted. Even in his first NHL game he appeared calm and steady, looking like he really belonged where he was. Even through the shaky appearance of his record, Georgiev established himself as trustworthy.
Another factor worth mentioning is that Henrik Lundqvist is getting to a point where retirement may be on the horizon soon. Why bring back Ondrej Pavelec, who is also nearing a retirement age? The best thing to do is play Georgiev and give him the opportunity to develop in the NHL. Having him develop in the next two seasons and dealing with the growing pains now is better than playing an undeveloped goalie in the future.
Next: New York Rangers 2017-18 report card: Brendan Smith
The best thing the New York Rangers could do next season is allow Alexandar Georgiev to play. It’s a very real possibility he will be the starting goalie in the next five seasons, it’s best to jumpstart his career now.