We can argue the merits of a rebuild versus a retool all we want, but the fact of the matter is, this season is a lost cause for the New York Rangers. They, as an organization, are no longer focused on winning this season, but rather using the remainder of the season to develop players properly and put themselves in a better position next season. Or at least they should be, but the Rangers messed up Dylan Garand, his development, and his potential by being, well, the New York Rangers.
The important things for the Rangers to do are to put out fires and develop their youth. So why on earth is a Rangers prospect in the media for being bummed about not getting a promotion? And more importantly, why is he completely right?
It all starts with this excellent interview/feature by Vince Mercogliano in The Athletic. In the article, Garand stops short of complaining, but does openly share he is confused why he hasn’t gotten the chance to start an NHL game in net. This is how the Rangers messed up Dylan Garand: He’s a solid prospect, albeit not an elite one, who has gotten his AHL reps in (and then some). Garand is a former AHL All-Star who has seen ups and downs and been ignored by the organization every step of the way.
When Igor Shesterkin went down with an injury, the question became whether Jonathan Quick or Dylan Garand would start, not whether Garand would be recalled or not. Instead, the Rangers called up recently signed journeyman backup Spencer Martin, and left Garand to toil away in the AHL. According to the article, the Rangers did little to nothing to explain to Garand why they did that, too. It’s not just the Rangers messed up Dylan Garand by leaving him in the AHL, it’s that he wasn’t even spoken to about it.
If you’re wondering what Jed Ortmeyer’s role is supposed to be, this is it. Same with Ryan Martin. The Rangers messed up Dylan Garand, and it’s not solely on Chris Drury (this time!).
The Rangers had the perfect opportunity to give a young goaltending prospect a run of games in the NHL to see what they have in him and build his confidence, but instead passed him over for a career journeyman and a 40 year old having one of the worst seasons of his Hall of Fame career.
Does that sound like wise decision making from a team, whether they’re retooling or rebuilding?
Worst of all, Jonathan Quick should not be back next season. Quick has been horrendous and a decent part of the Rangers problems. With that, the obvious move would be to give Garand the back-up role. Giving Garand time to get acclimated in the NHL in advance of such a role would be a no-brainer for 31 other organizations, but for a Rangers organization lacking brains, they couldn’t figure out the lay-up.
The Rangers messed up Dylan Garand, and now have a disgruntled, under-developed goalie prospect, a terrible and aging backup in Quick, and a journeyman with no NHL future in Martin. Quick and Martin will almost certainly be gone next season, while Garand will either be the backup, or continue to toil away on one of the worst AHL teams in the league.
I guess the silver lining here for Garand is that he doesn’t have to play behind New York’s defense. Then again, Hartford has somehow managed to be even worse.
Nothing is going right for the Rangers this season, and it’s self-inflicted messes like this Garand one that’s causing that to be the case.
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