TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Dylan Garand moved from the Hartford Wolf Pack to the New York Rangers’ starting net after an unexpected stretch of injuries left the team short-handed in goal. The 24-year-old spent the previous four professional seasons with Hartford, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, and had been assigned to the Wolf Pack again after passing through waivers this offseason.
Garand was settling into Hartford, taking an apartment and sleeping in a hotel while it was furnished, when veteran backup Joonas Korpisalo suffered a lower-body injury and was listed week-to-week. Garand became Igor Shesterkin’s backup for the Rangers’ second game of the season and earned his first NHL start on Oct. 2, recording a 22-save shutout of Detroit.
The Rangers’ season turned sharply on Oct. 9 when Shesterkin injured his right knee during a loss to the Washington Capitals. It was announced the next day that the Vezina Trophy winner would miss the remainder of the season. Captain J.T. Miller called the news “awful,” saying Shesterkin is “a pillar of this team,” while forward Matt Rempe called him “the best goalie in the world.”
Garand entered that game against Washington and stopped 10 of 11 shots, then learned the full extent of Shesterkin’s injury after handling media the following day. “On the ice, he’s unreal to watch. He’s my favorite goalie, honestly,” Garand said of Shesterkin. “He was on another planet, playing so well. It really sucks what happened. I feel so bad for him.”
Through six appearances this season, Garand is 5-3-1 with a .927 save percentage and a 1.82 goals-against average. His only prior NHL action came last season, when he started three games and went 2-0-1 with a .948 save percentage and a 1.62 goals-against average. Garand, a Victoria, British Columbia, native, was drafted 103rd overall by the Rangers in 2020 out of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.
