New York Rangers: A look at the backup goalie candidates
The New York Rangers have three options for backup goaltenders. Which one is the best choice to back up Henrik Lundqvist this season?
The New York Rangers recently signed goaltender Dustin Tokarski to a one-year contract. He will compete for the backup goaltender position this season behind Henrik Lundqvist.
The competition are the two goaltenders from the Hartford Wolfpack: Alexandar Georgiev and Marek Mazanec. All three have a good chance of earning the number two spot out of training camp. The other two will split time in Hartford, where they will try to solidify the crease of a Wolf Pack team who has struggled to play solid defensively for the past few seasons.
In addition, there are always options remaining in free agency that the Rangers could sign along the way. Here is a closer look into each candidate and how the Blueshirts’ coaching staff might evaluate them going forward.
Dustin Tokarski
Dustin Tokarski should be a familiar name for Rangers fans. He is the backup goaltender that stepped in for Carey Price in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals. Chris Kreider infamously ran into Price in game one, injuring Price and taking him out of the series.
Tokarski is the backup candidate with the most NHL experience. His 34 NHL games slightly surpasses Mazanec’s 31. However, he is the smallest of the three candidates at 6 feet.
His career save percentage is .904, and he has a career goals-against average of 2.84.
The Rangers clearly were not satisfied with just Mazanec and Georgiev competing for the backup spot. Tokarski stayed strong in net for the Canadiens during that 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, despite eventually losing the series. He is just a bit more of a proven player to backup Lundqvist for 30 or more games.
Although Tokarski did not play in the NHL last season, he had a solid season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. In 39 AHL games, he recorded a save percentage of .915 and a goals-against average of 2.65. He even earned an assist as well.
Tokarski’s signing signals that he is probably the Rangers’ top backup candidate at the moment. He can play in the NHL while Mazanec and Georgiev get more reps in the AHL and continue to develop.
Alexandar Georgiev
Alexandar Georgiev’s NHL performance was a promising sign for the Rangers. In 10 games, he earned a .918 save percentage. His GAA could be improved, but was still respectable at 3.15.
Despite the impressive NHL debut, Georgiev just has one year of experience as the starter in Hartford. His trips to and from the NHL led Marek Mazanec to take his place as starter for a stretch.
Georgiev can take this season as the opportunity to either jump into the NHL backup position and attempt to recreate his success from last year, or go for another season as the starter in the AHL.
It is obvious which option sounds better for Georgiev. However a chance to continue to develop and become more consistent would benefit the young goaltender. At just 22 years old, he has time to grow into a strong NHL netminder.
The Rangers most likely want to test Georgiev as the starter in Hartford once again. But, if injuries strike as they did last season or if Tokarski doesn’t pan out, Georgiev could get another shot at the NHL.
Marek Mazanec
Marek Mazanec spent part of last season in the KHL before joining the Wolfpack. He stepped in for Georgiev as starter when he was up in the NHL.
Now Mazanec will compete for the NHL backup spot. This will be an uphill battle for him, especially with Tokarski in the mix now.
In just 20 games with the Wolfpack, Mazanec had a .905 save percentage and a 2.97 GAA. So overall he was a reliable stand-in for Georgiev. But 20 games is a small sample size.
Also, Mazanec has also not played a significant amount of NHL games in years. He played 25 games for the Nashville Predators in the 2013-14 season. Since then he has played only six NHL games.
Mazanec seems to be more of an AHL backup or AHL starter as opposed to an NHL backup candidate. He can backup Georgiev for the full season, and then take over the top spot if Georgiev gets called up.
Free Agent Possibilities
Two big name backup goalies are still unrestricted free agents. Kari Lehtonen completed his contract with the Stars, and Steve Mason is available after not re-signing with Winnipeg.
Now, Lehtonen made $5 million last season, and Mason made just over $4 million. After signing Tokarski, the Rangers probably don’t want to invest more money in goaltending.
That being said, none of the three previously mentioned players have very high salaries. All of them make less than $1 million.
So if the Rangers wanted to go in another direction, maybe Lehtonen or Mason could jump into the mix.
Lehtonen played 37 games with the Stars last season and had a save percentage of .912 and a GAA of 2.56. He bounced between starter and backup during his seven seasons in Dallas. All things considered, he remained fairly consistent.
Mason had a .906 save percentage in just 13 games with Winnipeg. He previously was the starter in Philadelphia, where he consistently earned a save percentage around .920.
Both of these goaltenders have much more NHL experience and could easily backup Lundqvist. If all of the Rangers’ other options were to fail, or if they want to keep Georgiev in Hartford, they could explore the free agent market.
Next. A look at how the prospect pool has improved. dark
Basically the Rangers have plenty of options for Lundqvist’s backup this season. Georgiev was the presumptive backup until Tokarski signed. But both still have a good chance of earning the position.
There is also Mazanec and another possible free agent signing. As training camp draws closer, these goaltenders will have to prove they are good enough to make it in that number two position.