The New York Rangers signing of goaltender Dustin Tokarski might not look like a huge move on the surface, but it could really pay off in the future.
It looked as if the New York Rangers were done making moves this offseason. Then on Monday, the team made a unexpected move to sign veteran backup goaltender Dustin Tokarski to a one-year contract worth the NHL’s league minimum of $650k.
Most Rangers fans remember Tokarski from the 2013-14 playoffs, where he was forced to take over as the starting goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens once Carey Price went down with an injury he sustained in a collision with Chris Kreider.
Since that playoff series, Tokarski has struggled to stay relevant.
He played two more years with Montreal after 2013-14, posting, at best, subpar numbers. He then signed a one-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks in 2016-17 to be there backup. He ended up playing just one NHL game and spending most of his time with the franchise’s AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.
After re-signing with the Ducks for the 2017-18 season, Tokarski was traded to the Flyers in early October to serve as half of a goalie tandem in Lehigh Valley. While he posted solid regular season numbers, he wet the proverbial bed in the postseason in three appearances.
So to say the Rangers signed him to be their backup goalie is probably false.
Look, Benoit Allaire has proven to be the best in the business time after time, and maybe he could resurrect Tokarski’s career, but at this point, Alexandar Georgiev should still be viewed as the overwhelming favorite in the backup race.
That doesn’t mean that this signing wasn’t important though.
As of now, the Rangers have six goalies under contract; Henrik Lundqvist, Georgiev, Tokarski, Marek Mazanec, Chris Neil and Brandon Halverson.
Unless something extremely unlikely happens, both Halverson and Chris Neil will be playing in the ECHL this upcoming season. Obviously, Lundqvist will be the starter and anybody who thinks otherwise is a complete and total fool. That leaves Georgiev, Tokarski and Mazanec fighting for the backup role.
And this is why the signing was important.
The competition for the role is going to be fierce. Because of this, the trio will be pushing themselves and each other extremely hard in training camp and throughout the season.
The Rangers probably hope that either Mazanec or Tokarski win the role out of training camp, though. This would allow the winner to have a shot at raising their trade value in hopes to deal them at the trade deadline while also allowing Georgiev to play just about every night in Hartford, which is good for both his development as well as the rest of the team’s.
That is the main reason why this was smart.
Regardless of who the backup at the NHL level will be, Hartford’s goaltending situation will be much better than it was last season. This will allow players to have a chance to fight for a playoff spot while also giving the team’s prospects some more wiggle room to make mistakes.
If you want to debate if Tokarski was the right signing, go right ahead. That’s a different story for a different day. No matter how you shake it, though, the Rangers will have pretty deep goalie depth for the first time since the days of Martin Biron/Cam Talbot.