The New York Rangers, in name only given most of the roster will play for the Hartford Wolf Pack this season, lost their preseason opener 3-2 against the New Jersey Devils... but Dylan Garand was a bright spot who made the most of what was a very important opportunity.
In the preseason it is customary for goaltenders to split the game, but he was give the whole game to continue to make his case to be the team's backup. It is unlikely he will start the second half of a back-to-back on Tuesday, and with two games left after that, he could have just one more opportunity to force the issue.
The Rangers run the risk of losing Garand on waivers, should he not be chosen to be Igor Shesterkin's backup, and the organization is only in this situation because they acquired Joonas Korpisalo during the offseason. It remains to be ssen what President and General Manager Chris Drury will decide, and for the meantime Garand is simply trying to tune out the noise.
Garand understands the situation he's in
The Rangers' young netminder spoke with the media after the game, and his response was another example of him being thoughtful and direct in his words. When asked if he feels he made a statement making 28 saves in a game against a decent amount of NHL competition while the Rangers had a skeleton crew, he had this to say.
Via Colin Stephenson of Newsday:
"Yeah, maybe. I mean, I've just tried to, every day, just try and give my best, and work hard and compete I mentioned... a couple days ago that there's so much out of my control, so I'm really just trying to limit that outside noise inside my head, and just battle, and lay it all out there."
This isn't the first time Garand has been direct and to the point, and it was coming off the heels of a nice short stint with the Rangers. At the time Garand said, "I never want to go back to the American League, honestly. I'm so hungry to be here. I want to be in this league and a part of this organization."
Garand has deserved chance to prove himself
It remains to be seen how the Rangers will solve the dilemma they face, but if he does eventually end up on waivers, it will be hard to fault Garand for that. Garand’s AHL numbers during the 2025-26 campaign featured a record of 16-15-2, 2.83 goals against average, and a .896 save percentage.
With the Blueshirts he went 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals against average, a .948 save percentage, and courtesy of Evolving-Hockey he also had a 4.88 GSAA (goals saved above average) and a 5.38 GSAx (goals saved above expected).
Garand turned 24 in June, and to this point has appeared in 148 AHL games across six seasons, and he's got a career 2.90 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. He is a former CHL goaltender of the year who logged 135 games and posted a 2.34 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
Given his age, his career to this point, and his very low cap hit... there was every reason in the world to give him this season to see how he responded. The Rangers will often go as far as Igor Shesterkin will take them, and in order for him to do that he needs some time off every now and then. That's where backup goalies come in, and if a team is lucky, their backup shows future starter potential.
No one is pushing Shesterkin out the door, but he will turn 31 in December. Given that the Rangers released a Letter 2.0 which talked about looking to the future and retooling, it is pretty important to have an adequate assessment of where they stand in the long run for whern Shesterkin is no longer at the top of his game.
That the Rangers are even in a position to potentially lose Garand is frustrating, and the hope is that they do the right thing and keep him around. If it takes a three-headed monster... even for the short term, that's a better alternative than waiving him outright. We will get a better sense of that as the week goes on, and hopefully a week from now Garand is preparing for life as a full-time NHL backup goaltender.
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