The New York Rangers have moved starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin onto long-term injured reserve after confirming that a right-knee injury sustained against the Washington Capitals will sideline him for the remainder of the 2026-27 season, via Mollie Walker of The New York Post.
The club elected to place the 30-year-old on standard LTIR rather than the season-ending version of the list, a distinction that immediately frees $3.97 million in salary-cap space.
That figure represents the maximum relief available under the standard designation; the team could later shift Shesterkin to season-ending LTIR and unlock the full value of his $11.57 million cap hit.
Doing so, however, would formally close the door on any return this year.
The Rangers retain the flexibility to make that change at any point before the trade deadline, a maneuver the Dallas Stars employed last season with Tyler Seguin.
After initially placing Seguin on standard LTIR following his December knee injury, Dallas moved him to the season-ending list in late February and gained roughly $6 million in additional space just days before the deadline.
To fill the resulting roster opening, New York recalled veteran goaltender Spencer Martin from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
The move arrives while backup Joonas Korpisalo remains unavailable with his own lower-body injury, leaving the Rangers to proceed with a tandem of Martin and Dylan Garand—the same pair that opened the year on the Wolf Pack roster.
Garand, who has already appeared in two NHL games this season after an earlier call-up, will receive the first opportunity to seize the starting job.
The 24-year-old owns a 1-1-0 record and .971 save percentage in those outings, building on the 2-0-1 mark and .948 save percentage he posted across his first three NHL appearances last season.
Over five seasons in Hartford, he has compiled a 65-57-19 record and .901 save percentage in 148 games, establishing himself as the organization’s clear third option heading into the year.
Martin brings a deeper body of NHL experience to the partnership. The 31-year-old has appeared in 72 career games with the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes, and Rangers, posting a 25-33-8 record and .881 save percentage.
He also carries 267 AHL appearances across 11 professional seasons. With both Garand and Martin relatively unaccustomed to carrying a heavy workload for an extended stretch, the Rangers may still explore the trade market for additional goaltending depth.
Any acquisition would need to accept a reduced role once the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner returns next season, underscoring the temporary nature of the current arrangement as New York navigates life without its cornerstone netminder.
