New York Rangers: Dustin Tokarski signs one-year deal
On Monday, August 20th, 2018, the New York Rangers agreed to terms with goaltender Dustin Tokarski on a one-year contract.
On the morning of August 20th, the New York Rangers released a statement announcing that they signed goaltender Dustin Tokarski. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fifth round (122nd overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
After playing in the SMHL and WHL prior to being drafted, he joined the Lightning’s system for the 2009-2010 season. He spent most of the season with the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, then Tampa Bay’s affiliate but now an ECHL team, having been replaced by the Syracuse Crunch in 2012.
There, he played 55 games with a 2.51 goals allowed average (GAA) and .915 save percentage (SV%). He spent the entirety of the following season with Norfolk, recording a 2.65 GAA and .901 SV%. During the 2011-2012 season, Tokarski appeared in five NHL games and 45 AHL games.
In the NHL, he put up a 3.44 GAA and .879 SV%. In the AHL, he put up a 2.23 GAA and .913 SV%. The following season, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens and assigned to their AHL affiliate, then the Hamilton Bulldogs, before being moved to St. John’s and renamed as the IceCaps, but now an OHL team.
In 33 games with the Syracuse Crunch (now the Lightning’s AHL affiliate) that year, he had a 2.46 GAA and .900 SV%. Once he was moved to the Canadiens organization, he put up a 2.22 GAA and .927 SV%.
Over the next two seasons, he remained within Montreal’s farm system, continuing to put up average-to-good numbers, getting in a few NHL games when the club needed him. During the 2015-2016 season, Tokarski was again traded, this time to the Anaheim Ducks.
He was only there for part of that season and the entirety of the next one, recording okay numbers. He played one great game for the Ducks in the NHL, not letting in any goals.
At the beginning of last season, he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers organization. He played 39 games for their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he recorded a 2.65 GAA and .915 SV%.
Tokarski is expected to play for the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate this year, the Hartford Wolf Pack. This, in a way, confirms the assumption that Alexandar Georgiev will be the NHL team’s backup.
Comparison to league’s worst teams last year. dark. Next
Though Tokarski’s numbers aren’t amazing, they’re good enough, and he will probably do a fine job in Hartford and could work in a pinch in the NHL.