The Rangers have made their decision on Dylan Garand.
Now they have to hope nobody else decides they want him.
New York placed the 24-year-old goaltender on waivers Sunday after choosing veteran Joonas Korpisalo to back up Igor Shesterkin. The decision was not necessarily a reflection of Garand’s performance in camp. In fact, he made a legitimate case for the job after posting a .948 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against average in his first three NHL appearances last season.
The Rangers simply believe Garand needs more time as a No. 1 goalie in the AHL.
That is a reasonable argument.
But it also creates a pretty significant risk.
As Jeff Marek pointed out, there is a very real possibility another team claims Garand before the Rangers can get him to Hartford.
“I’ve been wrong before about goalie waivers but I can very much see the Rangers losing Garand here,” Marek wrote.
And there are teams that could have a reason to take the gamble.
The Buffalo Sabres immediately come to mind. With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon both dealing with injuries, Buffalo currently has only Colten Ellis available on its NHL roster.
That makes a young goalie with NHL experience particularly interesting.
The Rangers may believe Garand isn’t ready.
Another team may not care.
The Rangers Could Regret Losing Garand
The problem for the Rangers is that they do not have an abundance of goaltending prospects they can afford to lose.
Garand may not be ready to become an NHL starter today. That’s not really the point.
The question is what happens if he gets claimed, lands somewhere with an opportunity and suddenly starts showing that he was closer to NHL-ready than the Rangers believed.
That could become a painful realization.
Garand already showed flashes of what he can do last season. In three appearances, he went 2-0-1 with a 1.62 GAA and .948 save percentage, including 35 saves in his NHL debut against Winnipeg.
His AHL numbers were considerably less impressive, which helps explain why New York wants him playing more regularly in Hartford. He went 16-15-2 with a 2.83 GAA and .896 save percentage in 36 games.
But there is enough there to make the waiver decision uncomfortable.
The Rangers are banking on Korpisalo providing reliable support behind Shesterkin. That makes sense on paper. Korpisalo has considerably more NHL experience, and New York clearly preferred that experience for the immediate needs of the 2026-27 season.
The problem is what happens if that plan fails.
Shesterkin is going to carry the overwhelming majority of the workload, but even the best goalies need nights off. If he suffers an injury, the Rangers suddenly have a much bigger problem.
And if Korpisalo struggles, there is no obvious young option waiting behind him if Garand is gone.
That is why this could become one of those decisions that looks perfectly reasonable in September and much less reasonable a few months later.
Garand Could Flourish Somewhere Else
There is another possibility the Rangers have to consider.
Garand could get exactly what New York says he needs — just somewhere else.
A team that claims him would not necessarily need him to become its starter immediately. It could give him NHL opportunities, work with him in a different development system and see whether those promising flashes from last season can become something more consistent.
That is what makes waiving a 24-year-old goalie with some NHL success particularly risky.
Garand does not need to become a star for the Rangers to regret losing him.
He simply needs to become a legitimate NHL backup.
Suddenly, New York could be looking at a player it developed for six years and ultimately gave away for nothing.
The Rangers have already committed to Korpisalo as the immediate answer behind Shesterkin. The organization can defend that decision based on experience and Garand’s need for more AHL work.
But there is a difference between deciding a player is not ready and deciding that another team can have him.
That is the gamble New York is taking.
And if Garand finds the right situation, gets his opportunity and flourishes, the Rangers may look back at this decision very differently.
For an organization that cannot afford to lose too many useful prospects, that would be a particularly painful outcome.
Rangers Make Surprising Decision With Young Goalie