How Dylan Garand Could Throw a Wrench in NY Rangers' Plans in Net

Will Dylan Garand be able to land a role on the New York Rangers this coming season?

Apr 15, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand (33) looks on against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With training camp set to start soon for the New York Rangers, the team will be excited for the upcoming campaign. 

Coming off one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory, the Rangers are a team that wanted to improve this offseason. New York had no shortage of areas in which to do so, and the team, by all accounts, should be better. 

Getting better up front and on the blueline were two main priorities for the team, but they also had another need in the net following the retirement of Jonathan Quick. 

While the Rangers do have one of the best goalies in the world, the schedule has now moved up to 84 games, and he can’t play every night. That makes having a good backup important, and New York somewhat surprisingly made an interesting addition at the position. This has created perhaps a bit of a competition for training camp. 

One player who will be interesting to watch come training camp will be the young goalie, Dylan Garand. Prior to the offseason addition of Joonas Korpisalo, many expected that New York would be going with the talented Garand as the backup. 

The addition of Korpisalo will make Garand getting the backup job very difficult, but he’s got a lot of talent and winning the backup spot isn’t something that should be out of the question. 

Garand Could Throw Wrench in Rangers Plans

Apr 15, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand (33) makes a save against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While New York adding a goalie wasn’t a big surprise, going for a player like Korpisalo, who is pretty proven as a backup in the league, was. With the Boston Bruins last year, the 32-year-old totaled a 14-9-6 record, 3.15 GAA, and .894 save percentage. 

Due to the veteran making a good chunk of change as well, it would be shocking if he isn’t the primary backup to Igor Shesterkin. However, Garand has flashed the ability to be an excellent goalie already in the NHL in a small sample size. 

The argument can certainly be made that New York should have played him more down the stretch to truly see what he could be as a player. In three games, Garand totaled a 2-0-1 record, .948 save percentage, and a 1.62 GAA. 

With numbers like that, albeit in a small sample, it’s surprising that the Rangers didn’t want to give him more or a realistic chance of being the backup. However, if he really outshines Korpisalo, the team might not have a choice.