Rangers are still looking into their goalie options to help Dylan Garand

It's no secret anymore that Chris Drury is likely searching for another goaltender following Igor Shesterkin's season ending injury suffered vs the Capitals, and with Joonas Korpisalo out until at least November, it leaves the Rangers in a pickle when it comes to their goaltending situation.

Right now the Rangers are riding with Dylan Garand who has been admirable during his NHL career so far despite a stinker against the Devils where the team as a whole looked lost. As of writing this article Garand has a .915 SV% and 0.2 GSAx during his five games this season. But with the unknown of how Garand will fair with a full starters workload and the unappealing options behind him, New York has begun their search for another option in goal if they need it.

New York's interest in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Rangers goaltending scout Scott Clemmensen most recently went to the Sabres/Canadiens game which many believed to scout Buffalo netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and now Friedman has reported that the Rangers do like "UPL".

Luukkonen currently has three-seasons (including this one) left on his contract with a $4.75M cap hit and a five-team no trade list attached. It's a contract that can easily be absorbed and gotten rid of even with two additional years past this one, furthermore the term does add insurance in case Shesterkin's injury is worse than being led on.

Luukkonen's play so far in his career

UPL is one of the more inconsistent goaltenders in the NHL currently; this season so far he hasn't done too hot with one of the league's worst SV%'s with a .854 and -5.1 goals saved above expected (GSAx), fifth worst among 65 qualified goaltenders. But just last year in 35 games he had a .910 SV% (tied-sixth) and solid 10.7 GSAx.

For the past six seasons, Luukkonen's year-by-year SV% since 2021-22 goes as follows: .917 (21-22), .892, .910, .887, .910, .854 (26-27), including an overall GSAx of -1.3. Just based off these numbers the finnish netminder has yet to put up back-to-back seasons of at least "solid" starting play, which will be something to think about for the Rangers in their evaluation process if they believe a better body is needed.

Who else could the Rangers look at?

Additional options the Rangers could look at aren't very interesting, there are pending FA's such as Jordan Binnington, John Gibson, and Philip Grubauer. Binnington has the second worst GSAx since 2024 among all goaltenders who've played one game during that span, Gibson had a solid season with Detroit last year having 29 wins in 59 games as well as the ninth best GSAx in the NHL for 2025-26, and Grubauer has seen a nice career resurgence.

Potential goalies with term include Colorado's Mackenzie Blackwood and Toronto's Anthony Stolarz, but Stolarz is also in the realm of inconsistencies while Blackwood could be had if Colorado wants to put its hat in the ring for Hellebuyck or they believe their prospect Ilya Nabokov is NHL ready. A concluding thought on Blackwood though, his contract ends in 2030 with a 5.25M cap hit, which is something to consider.

For the first time in what seems like forever, it's going to be interesting to see what the Rangers do in goal. For now they have James Reimer under a PTO for Hartford, but is Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen the guy the Rangers covet the most to start in place of Shesterkin if things get out of hand?

For now that question will remain on hold as the Rangers are giving Dylan Garand the keys to be their starter for the rest of the season but if he shows he can't cut it and with Korpisalo's availability in question, it does hold up why the Rangers are starting to get their homework done early.

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