Dylan Garand likely to see NHL action with Rangers after Quick injury
Rookie goaltender Dylan Garand is likely to make his NHL debut with the New York Rangers either Sunday or Monday after Jonathan Quick left Saturday’s practice with an injury.
The Rangers recalled the 23-year-old goaltender from the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday, and he was on the ice with Quick and No. 1 goaltender Igor Shesterkin. However, Quick left the ice during practice and coach Mike Sullivan said he’s day to day with an upper-body injury — opening an opportunity for Garand to play his first NHL game.
“Depending on how this week plays out, I would anticipate Dylan playing,” Sullivan said.
He didn’t say when, but the Rangers have back-to-back home games against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon and the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. With the Jets barely hanging on in the Western Conference playoff race but the surging Sens alive in the East, a Sunday start for Garand looks like a logical spot for his NHL debut, with Shesterkin getting the call on Monday.
“There’s a lot of things that have gone into the decision to bring Dylan up,” Sullivan said. “But what I’ll tell you is that the biggest point is that he’s played extremely well in Hartford. He’s given those guys a chance to win, night in and night out, and he’s deserving.”
Reports on Friday said the Blueshirts were “a little banged up” in goal. With the Rangers coming off back-to-back 6-3 losses to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, they decided it was a good idea to have a third goaltender available entering the back-to-back against the Jets and Senators that begins a stretch of five games in eight nights.
By bringing up Garand, GM Chris Drury made sure he had a reliable third option available.
With the Rangers headed for a second straight non-playoff season, this is the perfect time to let Garand show what he can do in the NHL. Shesterkin (twice) and Quick (against the Devils) were bombarded in the past week; the Rangers were outshot in each of their past four games – and by double figures in three of the four.
It’s the second callup of the season for Garand; the first came after Quick was banged up in a 3-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Nov. 22. He also spent time in New York last season backing up Shesterkin, but in neither case did he see game action.
The Rangers could have recalled Garand when Shesterkin went down with a lower-body injury on Jan. 5 and didn’t play again until after the Olympic break. But GM Chris Drury opted to leave him in the AHL and recall journeyman Spencer Martin, who went 1-3-0 with a 4.13 goals-against average and .864 save percentage. It was a move that left a lot of fans shaking their heads.
Garand struggled through much of the current season after being an AHL All-Star in 2024-25, when he was 20-10-8 with a 2.73 GAA, a .913 save percentage and three shutouts for a non-playoff team. Hartford entered the weekend last in the Atlantic Division and faces an uphill climb to make the Calder Cup Playoffs, but Garand has stepped up his game recently, posting a .917 save percentage over his last 10 starts. He earned back-to-back 5-2 wins against the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday and Wednesday, making 50 saves on 54 shots.
For the season, he’s 16-15-2 with a 2.83 GAA and a save percentage of .896 in 36 games. In his four seasons with the Wolf Pack, the 2020 fourth-round pick (No. 103 overall) is 65-57-18 with a 2.90 GAA and a save percentage of .901.
Quick fell to 5-16-2 with the loss to New Jersey, and the 40-year-old future Hockey Hall of Famer looks like he’s nearing the end of the road. With their playoff hopes gone, there’s no sense in refusing to see what Garand can do at the NHL level – especially because he can become a restricted free agent on July 1.
Not finding out what Garand can do at the NHL level sends a bad message — it costs the organization lots of credibility when performance doesn’t dictate promotion. Playing Martin in the NHL while keeping Garand in Hartford is just one example.
Giving the 23-year-old a chance to play NHL games shows the Rangers are actually serious about the plan Drury made public in his letter to fans on Jan. 16.
The Rangers reassigned goaltender Callum Tung to the Wolf Pack from the ECHL’s Bloomington Bison to take Garand’s place.
