Rangers make SURPRISING move... This is PERFECT

In Molly Walker's latest report, she revealed a massive update for the Rangers in the goaltending department, and this is huge news. For those of you who have not been following along, Jonas Korpisalo, newly acquired goaltender in the offseason, has not yet played a game for the Rangers this season. So, is he the savior and the fix in the crease for the Rangers this season, or is this good news masking something a little bit bigger? And we're going to get into all of that, including the Rangers passing up on an opportunity to acquire a young forward for nothing. But before we get into all of that, a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button. We've noticed that a large percentage of you guys watching these videos every day are not subscribed to the channel, and we just hit over 12,000 subscribers. And I will be doing a jersey giveaway here on the channel for whatever comes first, either 15,000 subscribers or... the Rangers make the playoffs. So if you haven't yet, make sure to hit that subscribe button. I'll continue to keep you guys updated with everything that's happening with the Rangers every single day. Now let's get to the update. Let's go all the way back to when this problem started on October 9th. That is the last time Igor Shesterkin played for the Rangers. He is out with a very substantial knee injury and he is on injured reserve. His last game in Washington, he lasted 28 minutes, 20 seconds, and he gave up one goal on 14 shots. And the newly acquired backup in the offseason, Jonas Korpisalo, well, While he got injured before the season even started, he was dealing with a foot infection and he's been on the injured reserve ever since. So who's been in the net? Well, that is rookie Dylan Garin. 12 appearances, 10 starts already this season, a record of five wins, six losses, and one overtime loss. And Shesterkin in his first five games of this season stopped 101 shots of 109. A save percentage of .927. Gran is at a 905 across 12 appearances, which is above league average. And Spencer Martin an 833. James Reimer a 625. So the Rangers went from their franchise goaltender, best goaltender in the league, to a rookie who I expected personally to be the backup goalie this year. And now everyone behind him is a downgrade and borderline unplayable. Korpisalo was supposed to be a help in... This whole scenario and the Rangers got him from Boston on July 1st for a 2028 fourth round pick and his contract runs through the 2027-2028 season. So he was supposed to be this team's safety net, the backbone to the backbone of the team. And with him on the injured reserve, the Rangers went out and got James Reimer. He's 38 years old. He signed for a league minimum contract after a tryout with the Hartford Wolfpack. He did get a shutout in that game, but in his first game as a Ranger against Against the Kings on October 26, he gave up three goals on eight shots. So when a goalie who has not played yet this season, that needs to be a big part of the goaltending position, is coming back and is now on a conditioning stint with the Hartford Wolfpack, yes, I would say that is a little bit of good news for the Rangers. But you might be saying, what is a conditioning stint? Why is he going down to Hartford? Why isn't he backing up Gran in their next game tomorrow? Well, a conditioning stint is a short assignment to the AHL club to get back into game shape. So Korpisalo isn't activated quite yet. And he's not on the roster. He's going to have a short stint with the Hartford Wolfpack. His first practice back with the team was on October 30th last week. And when Mike Sullivan was asked about it, he said that Korpisalo is still under the guise of the workload management with the medical department. So a big question is, when do we see him back? The Rangers take on the Philadelphia Flyers at home tomorrow. Then a road trip starts. You got Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary, and then in Vancouver. And that road trip is a huge factor here. The Rangers don't have time to be patient. Eight wins, seven regulation losses, and one overtime loss, 17 points. They're now third in the Metropolitan Division, and Carolina leading the division has 26. And that's kind of what Molly Walker and some others are alluding to right now, that maybe, you know, he's going to miss that game tomorrow. He's going to go down with that conditioning stint. But maybe we do see him on this road trip and they're going to need to use him on this road trip. And that road trip I keep mentioning, it is a monster. They have four games in seven days, all on the road. And one of them is in Edmonton against the Edmonton Oilers, who just beat you four to one. Connor McDavid ripped that game open in the first period and Edmonton never trailed after that. With that many games in seven days coming up on the road. There's no way Dylan Girard is going to be able to play all of them. However, you can ask a rookie to start four games in seven days. But is that a good idea? By the way, those games all away from home. Like this is why even if he is rusty, get him into game shape quickly with the Hartford Wolfpack. And try to get him on the road with you guys to at least get one start in there. Because let's be honest, at this point with where this team is at, Grand is one of the only reasons this team is still standing in third in the Metropolitan. So what do we want to see from Korpisalo down there in Hartford? It doesn't even have to be a shutout. Because we saw a shutout from James Reimer and now we know that that doesn't matter. What we need is just a normal game. Get feeling good. Make some big saves. A body that holds up for 60 minutes. Feel good about yourself and your game because when a guy like that's been out of action all season, he hasn't been in an NHL game since last year. He needs to get back up to speed, but it's about whether or not he can be trusted to put in net now, because again, like Mike Sullivan said, he put James Reimer in a tough spot. Now look at this workload recently for Dylan Girard. He has started nine of the last 11 games from October 11th to November 3rd. And last night was another big performance. And let's take it back to the start of that stretch. In his first four starts, he gave up only four goals. That was a borderline elite run and something that I was, you know, maybe delusionally Thinking that he was going to run with. And then came that stint of two road games where he gave up 10 goals. And after that, Sullivan said what we all saw. We're asking a little bit too much of a rookie goaltender. And it showed. In the seven games before that, he allowed 1.6 goals a game. In the last five. He's allowed 3.6, which is double. And after the loss to Edmonton last Sunday, Grant said that it was inexcusable. He let the guys down and he puts that loss on himself. And that's the thing about being a rookie goaltender and thrown into this position. And Dylan Grant specifically, because he's a pretty candid guy. Nobody's telling you to go easy on yourself, right? Like you're just thrown into this position and he just plays until somebody gives him a night off at this point, which sounds like it's coming with Jonas Korpasalo. But in October... Nobody could have done that. And now hopefully with Korpasalo on the way, that is why November 3rd and that game against the Blues was so important. The Rangers finally get back in the win column, three to one against the Blues and the losing streak ends at four games. And that was the Dylan Garand we all know and love. 33 shots. 32 saves, a save percentage of .970. One goal got through, but hey, that happens pretty much every night. And that's it. A goalie who gave up five goals twice in a week, turned it around and only allowed one in that game and starts to feel good about himself again. But the numbers game around this team, much like last season, is pretty insane. Vince Mercogliano pointed to CSA's data. Eight of Garand's 12 appearances have graded out as average or above. In that game, he allowed 2.42 goals fewer than expected, which their model calls great. He also added that that's more than you should be asking from a rookie goaltender given his workload. So he's definitely carrying his weight. And Mike Sullivan spoke out on Grant as well. He said, I just think it's his resilience. He wanted to bounce back, have a solid night for the group. And he did. Even inside of the game, if he lets in a goal that maybe he thinks he should have had, I think he has the ability to move by it. Pretty quickly. So hopefully Corpuzalo comes in and he is a bright spot for this team. But talking of bright spots, this is the rookie that is the one who got everyone. through this whole stretch, man. They threw him into the fire. He was able to handle it. So remember what Dylan Garan was able to do through this entire time when Corpuzalo does return to the goal. There is one more stat that is pretty mind-blowing that I want to get to that Vince Marcaglino also pointed out. The Rangers this season are the only team in the NHL without a comeback win. They are 8-1 when they scored the first goal, which is crazy. And when they allow the first goal, they're 0-6-1. The one time they scored first and lost was October 9th against Washington, the same night that Igor got hurt. So in other words, if the Rangers don't score first this year, they do not win the game and there is no coming back. They just do not do it. And that's where maybe. Another centerpiece could have came in handy now that you have Will Cooley playing center and you're mixing up the lines. And think about what that means. Every other team in the league has found a way at least one time to come from behind and win and the Rangers have not done that this year. For example, look at the Oilers game. The Rangers did not score first, the Oilers did and there was no coming back after that. So that stat is insane. Either they score first or they lose. Let me know how you feel about that in the comments. But by the way, remember Brad Lambert that I mentioned earlier this morning? Right, that the Rangers should put a claim in on him. Young, center, that has pretty good upside still. Well, at the time I'm recording this, Elliot Friedman just revealed that he cleared waivers. No team claimed him and the Rangers completely passed on him. A former first round pick in 2022. 30th overall, nine points in 42 NHL games. Winnipeg ended up putting him on waivers after nine straight losses. They had one of the most insane comeback wins I've ever seen last night. And this year he's only played 11 games. He scored zero goals, only has one assist and has played about nine minutes a night. There must be something here with this player then. You really have to wonder because, you know, a couple of people were speculating that, you know, even the Islanders sit at 13th. Maybe they could have taken a flyer on him. Uh, you know, a former first round pick for free and not a single team around the league picked up the phone and Winnipeg's own GM in 2022 called this player the best skater in that entire draft. It would have cost the Rangers literally nothing. It would have cost them a roster spot, no pick, no player, and they completely passed on. And it has myself and even other fans, as you can see here, wondering if they even know anything at this point, because wouldn't most of us have taken a flyer on Brad Lambert? To be a center depth option for this team. But what do we know, right? What do we know? Well, what I know is a young center with upside still. That's not working out in that organization. Was put on waivers. You could have claimed him. And you didn't. So to recap. Corpasalo coming back. Going on that conditioning stint. And possibly traveling with the Rangers on this road trip. Is. Crucial, absolutely crucial. Dylan Garand is a beast. I know he's faltered at times this season, but look at the position he was put in. Eight of his 12 appearances graded average or better, and he did it as a rookie in one of the heaviest workloads we've ever seen. Now, Corpasalo is a nice bonus with him coming back. That's good news. I'm feeling pretty good about that. I am feeling pretty frustrated, and the one that's gonna bug me is Brad Lambert. I really do think that they should have. Tried to claim him off waivers. So I wonder what this conditioning stint looks like for Corpasalo. Does he still remain home with Hartford while the Rangers go out on that road trip and he joins them for the last two games? Does he join them right away? We're going to get some clarity on that tomorrow and I'll keep you guys up to date with all those updates that we get. Although it will be nice for, you know, Dylan Garand to get a little bit of a break here. So Corpasalo, you know, he's not going to play eight games in a row or anything like that, but they're going to be able to split time now. Give Garand a little bit of a break so he can reset mentally and give you good performances every single time he's out there. But let me know in the comments how you feel when Corpus Solo is ready. Should he take the net right away or do you ease him in? Like, does it depend on the opponent? Let me know in the comments how you feel. And if you guys are curious as to how this is going to play out, any other updates and how this road trip is going to go, make sure to hit that subscribe button. I'm giving you guys daily updates. On the New York Rangers, all the updates, post-game reactions, all that fun stuff. Thank you so much for the support on the channel. My name is Darius Dominguez. This is Rangers Digest, and I'll see you in the next one.