Dylan Garand is third on the New York Rangers goalie depth chart and, barring injury to Igor Shesterkin or Jonathan Quick , will spend the 2025-26 season playing once again for Hartford of the American Hockey League.
But that doesn't stop the confident 23-year-old prospect from believing he's an "NHL caliber" goaltender.
"I think I showed this year that I can be one of, if not the, best goalies in this league (the AHL) and NHL caliber," Garand told HartfordWolfPack.com . "Obviously, I'm waiting for my opportunity up top. I know that if I keep putting in the work, that'll come. Wherever I am, whether it is up there or here, I'm going to compete to win and keep working hard and getting better every day."
Garand added that he'll be "pushing to play in the NHL" this season, his fourth in professional hockey. The fourth-round pick (No. 103 overall) by the Rangers in the 2020 draft has already played three seasons with Hartford, though hasn't yet made his NHL debut.
"If I'm in Hartford, I'm really excited to carry the load for this team," he explained. "It's exciting looking forward to that."
Garand signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Rangers last week. He's expected to be the No. 1 goalie in Hartford after splitting the job with veteran Louis Domingue the previous three seasons. Domingue will play play in the KHL this season.
That leaves Garand as the young 'veteran," for lack of a better word, among the four goalies who should compete for opportunities with the Wolf Pack in 2025-26.
Talyn Boyko, who turns 23 in October, played five games with Hartford last season and the better part of two seasons in the ECHL to date. Hugo Ollas , a 6-foot-8 goalie, has two years of ECHL experience after he played at Merrimack College. And Callum Tung is a 21-year-old rookie pro who signed with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent last spring after one season at UConn. He closed out the season with two starts for the Wolf Pack.
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Dylan Garand — photo courtesy Hartford Wolf Pack
Garand played in the AHL All-Star Challenge last season and finished 2024-25 tied for ninth among all goalies with a .913 save percentage. He won 20 games for the first time as a pro, just eight behind Matthew Murray of the Milwaukee Admirals for the league lead.
All told, Garand was 20-10-8 with a career-best 2.73 goals-against average and three shutouts in 39 appearances. Win No. 20 came in his final start, when Garand made 23 saves in a 4-1 victory against Bridgeport on April 18.
"It was awesome. That's the name of the game, winning," Garand said. "Twenty wins is a great number, definitely felt nice to get that in my last start. … It's pretty cool to do for the first time, but hopefully I can top that number next year."
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Garand excelled in the Calder Cup Playoffs his first two seasons. He was 10-7 with a 2.21 GAA, .927 save percentage and two shutouts combined in the 2023 and 2024 AHL playoffs. But he didn't have the chance to display his big-game reputation this past spring because — like the Rangers — the Wolf Pack failed to qualify for postseason play.
"Obviously, as a team, not where we wanted to finish, I'd have preferred we wrapped up months after April, but that's kind of just the way it went this year," he said. "I'm proud of the way I laid it on the line every night and competed, I tried to give the guys a chance to win every night. I think it was a good year for myself on a personal level, and I learned a lot."
When he arrives in New York for training camp in September, Garand's aware that he won't unseat Quick to be Shesterkin's backup. But that doesn't mean he can't impress a new coaching staff led by Mike Sullivan.
So, this coming season could be all about Garand convincing the Rangers he's "NHL caliber" and ready to be the backup on Broadway in 2026-27, if Quick opts to retire at age 40.
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