Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesDylan Garand may be auditioning to be the New York Rangers’ backup goaltender for the 2026-27 season.
With Jonathan Quick banged up with an upper-body injury, the Rangers called up Dylan Garand from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League last week.
Despite previously being called up on a couple of occasions, Garand hadn’t played in an NHL game.
With the Rangers well out of the playoff picture, the team was more inclined to give Garand a look, and he has run with his opportunity.
In two games, Garand has posted a 1.44 goals against average and a .954 save percentage, while earning his first NHL win on Friday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I thought he looked really solid in there, and that's the second game in a row I felt that way so,” Mike Sullivan said of Garand. “It's two really good starts for him and I'm happy for him because I know how hard he's worked to get to this point. It's great for our team, it's great for our organization... The feeling I've gotten behind the bench in the two starts that he's had is that he's completely in control and he has good composure in there.”
Going into next season, it’s unclear if Jonathan Quick will retire, and even if he does return to play another year at 40 years old going on 41 years old, it remains to be seen if the Rangers are open to re-signing the pending unrestricted free agent.
Quick is having what many deem to be a down year, recording a 5-16-2 record, 3.18 goals against average, and .889 save percentage. Through the 13-game stretch Igor Shesterkin missed due to a lower-body injury from January to February, Quick, who took over the starting role, held a 1-8 record and .853 save percentage.
Given some of Quick’s struggles this season and his durability concerns at his age, it is not far-fetched to assume that Garand could take over the backup role under Igor Shesterkin moving into the future.
“I’m not really thinking about that too much,” Garand said. “I’m just trying to live in the present moment, and any opportunity I get try to go in there and give the guys a chance to win and do my job. I’m having a lot of fun right now.”
Mike Sullivan confirmed on Saturday that Quick still isn’t cleared to return to game action, but even when he is, the Rangers don’t appear to be in a rush to send Garand back down to the AHL.
Has the 23-year-old goaltender earned more NHL starts to close out the 2025-26 campaign?
“That would probably be a fair statement just based on his performance to this point,” Sullivan emphasized. “As this moves forward, when eventually we get a healthy Quickie back, I think [Chris Drury] and I will sit and probably have a conversation around it.”
It would be wise for Sullivan and the Rangers to keep Garand around for the remainder of the season to see what they have in the young goalie.
The best way to analyze if Garand is capable of taking over the backup role is to throw him into more NHL games, and with the Rangers already eliminated from playoff contention, there’s no reason not to allow Garand to showcase his skills at this level.
“We’ve put him in two games so far. I will sit and talk with Dru (Drury) about a game plan moving forward,” Sullivan said. “Right now, we've got two healthy goalies that we're going to utilize, Dylan's part of it.
“I think he’s played extremely well in the two games that he’s played, which is real encouraging from our standpoint. He's a good young goalie. As far as what happens moving forward, I think that's going to evolve in time, and we'll talk through that as we go.”