There has been no official word yet, but the Rangers today placed goaltender Joonas Korpisalo on Injured Reserve and recalled Dylan Garand from Hartford. The move comes just days after they put Garand on waivers in order to assign him to Hartford. Fortunately for Chris Drury, he wasn’t claimed, otherwise today could have looked very different.
Putting Korpisalo on IR means he’ll be unavailable for seven days, and assuming he was hurt today, it would mean missing the next four games, including Friday in Detroit where it was likely that he would make his New York Rangers debut.
The injury puts a spotlight on how quickly things can change with an injury, particularly with the goaltending position where the next two netminders are Spencer Martin and Callum Tung. Hopefully for the Rangers, Korpisalo will be able to work his way back in, but a week-to-week diagnosis isn’t promising.
There had been some thought that Garand had done enough to win the backup job this year, but the Rangers thought differently. Now he has an opportunity to strengthen his claim on the backup role with some strong performances. He’ll likely get multiple opportunities now, and a good stretch could make it an interesting conversation when Korpisalo is able to return. Assuming he is able to return.
PIT
CBJ