Rangers sign goalie Dylan Garand to two-year extension
New York Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand looks on against the Chicago Blackhawks in the second period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden on Friday, March 27. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Jonathan Quick’s retirement has opened the door for Dylan Garand to have a chance to make it as a full-time NHL goalie.
The Rangers on Sunday announced that they have signed the 24-year-old to a two-year contract extension, which presumably makes him the first choice to replace Quick in the role of backup to Igor Shesterkin.
An NHL source said the first year of the deal is a two-way contract with an NHL-minimum $850,000 salary at the NHL level. According to Puckpedia, Garand will earn $400,000 if he plays in the minor leagues.
The NHL source said the second year of the contract is a one-way deal worth an NHL-minimum $900,000, meaning Garand will get the same salary whether he is in the NHL or the minors. His salary cap hit would be $875,000.
Of course, signing Garand, who was scheduled to be a restricted free agent, doesn’t preclude the Rangers from signing a veteran in free agency to compete with him for the backup job.
Some big-name goalies will be free agents this summer, including two-time Stanley Cup winner Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen, who just won the Cup a week ago with Carolina. Former Oiler Stuart Skinner and former Ranger Cam Talbot are among those available.
Garand showed enough in his late-season audition to indicate that he is ready to at least compete for the job. After struggling in the first half of last season with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford — so much so that when Shesterkin was injured in January, the Rangers recalled well-traveled Spencer Martin, 30, instead of Garand to take Shesterkin’s spot — Garand was called up in March when the team started taking looks at some of its younger players.
In his NHL debut March 22, Garand made 35 saves in a shootout loss to Winnipeg at the Garden, and he spent the rest of the season with the parent club. He started three games the rest of the way, going 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.
At the team’s breakup day in April, Garand said he is hungry to make it as an everyday NHLer and confident that he will.
“I have a lot of belief in myself. I know what I’m capable of and I know how hard I work day in and day out,’’ he said. “I’m hungry to be here, and it’s an exciting opportunity to move forward.’’
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.
More Rangers
