New York Rangers: Three Treats of 2023-24 Season So Far
By Conor Power
If you want to talk about the surprise of the young Rangers season, look no further than new backup netminder Jonathan Quick. With three Stanley Cup Championships and a Conn Smythe in his locker, the 37-year-old netminder is not the goaltender he was a decade ago when he was winning the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings and decided to come to his boyhood club for another shot at winning the cup.
Quick has only played in three games, starting two. However, he has a spectacular .982 save percentage, a 0.41 goals-against average, and a shutout over the Edmonton Oilers. That is unsustainable if we’re being honest, but the fact Quick has achieved such heights as a boyhood Ranger fan for the team on Broadway is a fantastic story.
Quick will have an important part to play on this Rangers roster down the stretch. A former Conn Smythe winner and three-time Stanley Cup Champion netminder will not only need to try and give Igor Shesterkin some time off. Still, they can also use his experience of winning the cup around guys like Drew Doughty, Brad Richards, Mark Stone, and a host of other talented players to help a young Rangers team get over hurdles.
If Quick finds a way to keep his .982 save percentage, he will be the starting goalie for the Rangers. Shesterkin is the best goalie in the world, but if Quick decides, “okay, nothing is going in anymore,” well, how do you take the crease away from him? You don’t. That would be a fantastic problem, but Quick needs to prove he can sustain his play at a level even close to this.