trade georgiev

Per Rick Carpiniello, the Rangers may be in the market for a goalie this offseason, or even at the draft. Given the current status of Igor Shesterkin, this was met with relative skepticism. After all, the Rangers have handed the reins to Shesterkin as the goalie of the future. He’s an RFA and remains unsigned, but that’s just par for the course given the offseason priorities. RFAs are usually the last guys to get signed unless there is another reason to do so (Howden, Gauthier). What Carp said was two different pieces though, first was that the Rangers may be in the market for a goalie this season, and second that the Rangers may draft one in the first round.

Tackling the drafting piece first, goalies are voodoo in the draft. It is so difficult to predict how they will pan out. For every Vasilevskiy there’s a Montoya. Carp mentions Sebastian Cossa by name, but that may be because Jesper Wallstedt will likely be unavailable. BSB goalie guru Justin, in the BSB chat, said that Wallstedt would be a good pick at the #15 slot. He’s likely the real deal. If Wallstedt falls, it likely means some of the better skaters are already gone. That might not be such a bad pick. Having goalie insurance is never a bad thing. There will be many who will be furious if the Rangers draft a goalie in the first round, but Wallstedt might be worth it.

As for getting a goalie in the offseason, that tracks with the Rangers dangling Alex Georgiev. Shesterkin is the starter, thus Georgiev is luxury and a potentially valuable trade piece. There are always plenty of backups available in free agency, and the Rangers generally do a good job finding cheap backups who out perform their contracts.

Nothing Carp said was outrageous, just a little unexpected. But when you take a step back, there’s sound logic behind drafting and/or targeting a goalie this weekend.

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