Goalie Joonas Korpisalo rejoined the Rangers for practice Friday for the first time since contracting a foot infection at the beginning of the season.
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Participating for around 30 minutes, Korpisalo saw plenty of shots and got some work in before heading off the ice a bit earlier than the rest of the team. The 32-year-old only just resumed skating last weekend, to put his abbreviated practice in perspective.
"It's a big step for Korpy," head coach Mike Sullivan said after practice. "He's still under the guise of the workload management with our medical department, so it was by design he didn't stay the whole time out there today. It's a big step for him, joining the team."
Shortly after the Rangers put Korpisalo on injured reserve, the Finn was given a four-week timeline to return.
New York Rangers goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) plays during the first period of an NHL preseason game against the New Jersey Devils, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
If he's on schedule, Korpisalo could play his first game of the season as soon as the Rangers' upcoming road trip to Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Once Korpisalo makes his Blueshirts debut, he will have played for five NHL organizations.
Eeli Tolvanan again did not participate in practice due to personal reasons.
Defenseman Sean Durzi, who missed a few practices for "maintenance," was back on the ice with the team Friday.
After missing Tuesday's practice due to an upper-body injury, goalie James Reimer returned to the ice as well.
Among defense pairs who have logged at least 150 minutes of five-on-five ice time entering Friday's slate of games, Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov's 11.01 expected goals is the fifth best in the NHL. The only duos they trail are the Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield (14.71), the Golden Knights' Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore (13.72), the Mammoth's MacKenzie Weegar and Mikhail Sergachev (11.62) and the Devils' Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler (11.41).
The Wolf Pack named Marc Del Gaizo the 16th captain in franchise history earlier this week.
Since signing a two-year, two-way deal with the Rangers in July, Del Gaizo has skated on Hartford's top pair.
Forwards Anton Blidh, Justin Dowling and Glenn Gawdin were also named alternate captains. The plan is for the trio to rotate wearing the 'A' during the season.
