Rangers Sign Dylan Garand To Two-Year Extension

New York Rangers restricted free agent goaltender goaltender Dylan Garand has agreed to terms on a two-year extension per the team.

According to Colin Stephenson of Newsday Sports, the contract is a two-way deal for the first year, at a league minimum of $850k at the NHL level. The second year of the deal is a one-way worth $900k, leaving an AAV of $875k.

Drafted in the fourth round back in 2020, the recently-turned 24-year-old only debuted in the NHL this season late in March after four seasons of solid performance with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. With the Rangers’ season lost, starts were still hard to come by for the prospect, as superstar Igor Shesterkin stood in the way, along with the now-retired Jonathan Quick, who was done right by New York by getting a fair share of work in the final days of his tremendous NHL career. The combination led to a frustrating situation for Garand, who absolutely deserved meaningful NHL minutes, which hopefully are finally delivered over the next two seasons.

Even with Quick hanging up his pads, Garand still has question marks on his ability to be a full-time backup for the blueshirts next season as an unproven player, evidenced by the two-way status of 2026-27. Yet in the just three games he got into, the 6’1″ netminder did just about everything he could to earn a home in the Big Apple. Garand came away with two wins and a respectable shootout loss, posting a .948 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against-average. It resulted in a 3.9 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, in a very small sample size but still above the work of Quick along with veteran depth piece Spencer Martin.

Already having completed just about everything he can at the AHL level in his 148 games played for Hartford, Garand fits nicely into New York’s retooling plans as a backup for Shesterkin. With the 31-year-old Martin already signed for next season, it doesn’t make much sense to add another free agent backup into the mix. The best case scenario for the Rangers is that Garand faces some competition in camp from Martin, but earns the job as Shesterkin’s backup. Even if he sits too much behind the 2022 Vezina winner, the two-way contract would allow Garand any reset if needed.

A team with plenty of examples of strong goalies to come up the ranks behind their elite #1, either Shesterkin or Henrik Lundqvist of the previous era, Garand will hope to be the next in line as someone who earned his stripes and took the long road to the highest level. Barring an unexpected free agent addition, the Rangers’ goaltending corps are likely set for the upcoming season, as they’ll turn to Braden Schneider as the next notable restricted free agent to figure out in what will be a fascinating off-season for GM Chris Drury.