This morning the New York Rangers announced an organizational goaltender swap; as Spencer Martin has been called up, while Dylan Garand is headed back to AHL Hartford. The move is a natural one, as Jonathan Quick has landed on IR, with a lower-body injury sustained earlier this week.
Martin, 30, signed to a two-year deal earlier this month after starting the season in the KHL with CSKA Moscow. The Ontario native carved out a respectable career over the last nine professional seasons between the AHL and NHL, notching 66 games in the NHL, but it appeared he had run out of opportunities and was set to finish his career abroad. Instead, after 14 games with Moscow, his KHL contract was terminated. Now, even if temporarily, Martin finds himself back in the NHL with an Original Six franchise, proving to be quite a change of events in just one month.
On the other hand, Garand, 23, is a prospect with potential to be a legit NHL backup. Even if not the absolute highest upside, he was a nice find in the fourth round of the 2020 draft, and the Rangers are making sure to develop Garand properly. Naturally he emerges as the likely next man up whenever Quick retires, but in the meantime, the British Columbia native has yet to debut in the NHL, and the organization prefers he continues to play at the AHL level, than sit behind Igor Shesterkin. The team opted to start their star Shesterkin in a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, rather than give Garand his debut yet.
Therefore, with Garand needing proper seasoning, and Quick approaching age 40 despite his late career resurgence, Martin is a needed buffer between the two. The hope is that Quick will return soon, with his tremendous performance so far this season, to the tune of a .944 SV% and 1.69 GAA, but at his age such injuries are unfortunately not so surprising. Martin, an AHL All Star last season, is a real asset capable of serving as a viable NHL backup, or AHL star, needing no additional development at this point in his career.