Having three goaltenders for the second half of the 2019-20 season was awkward for the Rangers, and once the season was over, GM Jeff Gorton declared that the team would not be doing that again. So, the Rangers said goodbye to a franchise icon, Henrik Lundqvist, and pressed ahead with two young Russians, Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev.
They did need a veteran guy to back those two up, though. And, since Shesterkin isn’t eligible for the 2021 expansion draft, they also needed a goalie under contract they could expose for potential selection by the incoming Seattle Kraken.