Barring a trade, it looks like the New York Rangers will go into the last two months of the season with a three goalie system. How much work can the trio of netminders expect to get?
The New York Rangers are stuck with one of the most unwieldy roster challenges, three goalies. Unless the Blueshirts are able to work a deadline for one of their goalies (presumably Alexandar Goergiev) they will have to split the workload between Henrik Lundqvist, rookie Igor Shesterkin and Georgiev. How will it work?
The good news is after a very light schedule in January, the Rangers have a very heavy schedule in February, March and one week in April. They play 34 games in 63 days, more than once every other day.
Looking at a strict rotation between the three and assuming that Henrik Lundqvist gets the first start against Detroit at Madison Square Garden on Friday, January 31, he will start 12 games in the rest of the season and Shesterkin and Georgiev will get 11 starts each.
Henrik Lundqvist’s workload
There is no doubt that 12 games in just over nine weeks is a lot less work than Henrik Lundqvist is used to. Here’s his workload in the last 34 games of the season over the last five years:
2018-19: 17 games
2017-19: 21 games
2016-17: 22 games
2015-16: 25 games
2014-15: 7 games
In 2014-15, he suffered a throat injury that kept him out of action for almost two months., returning to action in late March. Cam Talbot started 25 games and MacKenzie Skapski started twice. Every other year, until last season, he shouldered the bulk of the workload.
Lundqvist became the top goaltender in the 2006-07 season and remained so until the 2018-19 season. In 12 years he played in 752 of 950 games for the Rangers, almost 80% of the schedule. Last season and so far this campaign, that percentage has dropped to 59%.
It’s going to be a tough two months for Lundqvist, playing a little over once a week and the question will be how he adapts.