NY Rangers Might Not Have a Choice Other Than to Carry Three Goalies

Will the New York Rangers have to carry three goalies this season?

Apr 4, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) warms up before the first period against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With training camp underway, the New York Rangers are getting set for the upcoming season in less than two weeks. 

Following a solid end to the 2025-26 campaign after a tough overall season and a busy summer, the Rangers seem optimistic about what this year could be. New York made a lot of upgrades for both their forward group and on the blueline. 

This was a team that certainly needed to add help, and Chris Drury was aggressive in pursuing improvements. Coming off the last-place finish in the Eastern Conference, the team needs to be better, or some changes could be coming. 

While a lot of the attention this offseason went to improving at forward and on the blueline, they also needed to address the backup goalie spot. Jonathan Quick announced that he was going to be retiring at the end of last season, creating a void behind Igor Shesterkin. New York also addressed that spot this offseason, but the move they made has created an interesting dilemma for the team. 

Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan recently commented on the possibility of the team carrying three goalies. While he didn’t seem thrilled with the idea long-term, it appears very possible that it could happen. 

New York Will Need to Carry Three Goalies

Sullivan on the possiblity of the #NYR carrying three goalies:

"Is that an option that's on the table for us? Yes."

Noted that it's not ideal in the long term, but he'd be fine with it short term.

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) September 17, 2026

Assuming the team believes in Dylan Garand and that he can be an NHL goalie, they are going to need to carry three goalies, it seems. Garand would have to clear waivers in order to go back to the AHL, and while the sample size in the NHL is small, it is an impressive one for Garand. 

While the addition of Korpisalo this offseason improved the team, it was a puzzling move due to the team having a young goalie in Garand, who has been pretty impressive. 

Now, with both fighting for the backup job, Sullivan might not have a choice but to use both of them. For the development of Garand, that is far from ideal. However, the team just gave up a draft pick and are paying Korpisalo $3 million, making him someone who the team clearly believes should have a role. 

Overall, the Rangers have a lot of talent in the net, but the continued development of Garand is going to be important. Carrying three goalies, with one of them being Igor Shesterkin, who is going to play a majority of the time, is far from ideal, but they can’t risk Garand on waivers.