Rangers could carry goalies Igor Shesterkin, Dylan Garand and Joonas Korpisalo to start the season

GREENBURGH — With the new, compressed training camp and shortened preseason, the Rangers don’t have a ton of time to make decisions on their personnel before their Sept. 29 season opener in Boston.

To help with that, they’ve brought a smaller number of bodies into camp than usual (48) and sought to limit, as much as possible, the number of spots on the roster that will be battled for. And though coach Mike Sullivan said the team hasn’t already been picked, realistically, he and his staff, and general manager Chris Drury, know who the top 11 forwards, five defensemen and No. 1 goalie will be.

They just have to identify the 12th and 13th forwards, decide on the sixth and seventh defensemen and figure out who will back up Igor Shesterkin.

The goaltending question is fascinating. When Jonathan Quick retired after last season, Drury needed to bring aboard a veteran who could challenge youngster Dylan Garand for the backup role. But instead of signing a low-cost option as a free agent, he traded for Boston’s Joonas Korpisalo.

Korpisalo, 32, has two years left on a contract that pays him $4 million, though the Rangers are paying him only $3 million per year because Ottawa retained 25% of his cap hit when it traded him to Boston in 2024. At that kind of salary, it would suggest he’ll be the backup and Garand, 24, will go back to the AHL for a fifth season with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

However, because Garand, a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft by the Rangers, no longer is waivers-exempt, he would have to clear waivers before he could be sent down to the minor leagues. And given how well he played in his three-game audition at the end of last season (2-0-1, 1.62 goals-against average, .948 save percentage) there’s a good chance he could be claimed by another team.

If Garand plays well in camp and the preseason, the Rangers could keep him and place Korpisalo on waivers instead. With his salary, he seems a lot less likely to be claimed.

There is another option. The Rangers could choose to keep three goaltenders and not risk exposing either Garand or Korpisalo to waivers. Carrying three goaltenders is awkward, and teams don’t often do it, but when Sullivan was asked Thursday if there is a chance that the Rangers will do that, he said, “Sure . . . it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility.’’

He said that having three goalies is not ideal in the long term but added, “I think it’s very manageable in the short term.’’

Carolina carried three goalies for most of the 2025-26 season, and as uncomfortable as it may have been for the goalies themselves, the depth paid off in the end. The Hurricanes turned to Sound Beach native Brandon Bussi late in the playoffs and he was in goal when they beat Vegas to win the Stanley Cup.

Korpisalo, an 11-year NHL veteran, was asked Friday if he’s ever been on a team that carried three goalies. “Not really, unless there’s been an injury and there’s a guy who’s been coming back,’’ he said. “But you know, if it’s three goalies, then it is three goalies. Our job doesn’t change. We do our best and try to stop the puck.’’

Garand and Korpisalo trained together before training camp, and both had nice words to say about each other.

“I’ve been skating with him the last two weeks,’’ Garand said. “He’s an awesome guy. Great teammate. So I’m really excited to get to work with him here. [But] it doesn’t really change anything for me. It doesn’t matter who’s here or not; my job is to stop the puck and that’s all I’m focused on.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.