Canadiens-Rangers Link: Montreal’s Goaltending Depth vs. New York’s Latest Shortage

The New York Rangers are dealing with a goaltending situation that has gone from challenging to potentially destabilizing. According to Yahoo Sports, Igor Shesterkin is out for the season with a lower-body injury, and backup Joonas Korpisalo is also unavailable for roughly four weeks. That leaves a thin NHL net presence, with rookies Dylan Garland and Callum Tung positioned as the team’s goaltending tandem, for a combined total of five games of league experience.

That context matters in the NHL because goaltending depth is not simply a box-score concern. When a team loses a No. 1 goalie and then another experienced backup, the margin for error collapses, especially against high-volume offenses and sustained pressure stretches. For the Rangers, the immediate priority shifts from long-term planning to short-term survivability, and every decision around starts, workload management, and in-game risk becomes more consequential.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, offer a contrast in depth. Yahoo Sports frames Montreal as having three capable NHL goaltenders, even as early-season injuries have struck the organization. The report lists Kaiden Guhle, Oliver Kapanen, Ivan Demidov, and Samuel Montembeault as among those who have missed time. Even with those setbacks, the Canadiens’ netminding group is portrayed as healthier than New York’s, which is where the “could they help each other?” premise comes from.

Samuel Montembeault is the goalie whose name surfaces in the discussion as a potential fit for New York. The idea is rooted less in projecting outcomes and more in the basic roster logic of supply and demand. If Montreal indeed has multiple NHL-capable options available, the Canadiens would be better positioned to absorb the kind of uncertainty that comes with being asked to move someone, while the Rangers would be looking for stabilization.

However, this is still a question rather than a confirmed plan. The Yahoo Sports piece is written as a matchup of needs, not as a report of a specific transaction. As a result, there is no guarantee that Montreal would part with a goaltender, and even if conversations exist, the Canadiens’ injury timing and internal depth evaluation could determine whether any answer is even available.

For the Rangers, the most immediate watch item is how quickly the organization can establish a functional rhythm behind Garland and Tung while the backup gap remains. For the Canadiens, the key is whether their three-netminder situation stays intact enough to keep flexibility, even if more names continue to miss time in other parts of the roster.

If these teams do look toward each other, it would underscore a common NHL reality: goaltending markets move quickly when a team’s starter status changes sharply. At the same time, the Canadiens’ ability to “help” would depend on what they view as their own runway and whether their current depth truly gives them options beyond the immediate future.