When New York Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev plays his 60th career game, his waiver-exempt status window will be closed.
The New York Rangers may face a resolution to their goaltending conundrum without doing anything but playing hockey.
Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post reported that once Alexandar Georgiev plays in his 60th career hockey game, he will no longer be waiver-exempt. Meaning that Georgiev would be placed on waivers if the Rangers want to send him down to the AHL.
Georgiev would most certainly be claimed. So, the Rangers have to decide if they would like to see AHL prospect goaltender Igor Shesterkin play some games in the NHL soon.
Georgiev has played well while serving as the back-up to Henrik Lundqvist. He has a 3.07 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 11 games this season. The 23-year-old recorded his first shutout of the season last Sunday. He made 33-saves as the Rangers shutout the Devils.
Georgiev will hit the 60 game mark sooner rather than later.
Georgiev’s situation is directly tied to the status of Shesterkin, who has enjoyed a great start in the AHL.
Shestrkin could use his European clause and leave the Hartford Wolf Pack, just as Vitali Kravtsov did last month, once Georgiev hits the games played mark.
At that time, Shesterkin would have to stay with Hartford for the season. That is, unless an injury occurs to a goaltender or one is possibly traded. That’s is unlikely, but a possibility, nonetheless.
Henrik Lundqvist is scheduled to play Friday night against Montreal. The team then heads out on a four-game West Coast trip beginning in Las Vegas on Sunday. After that four-game set, the Rangers will have seven games remaining in December with two sets of back-to-back games.
Should the Rangers decide that they don’t want to promote Shesterkin now, the team has no issues. However, if they believe they want to get a look at Shesterkin now, David Quinn and Jeff Gorton will have to figure out the best way to accomplish that move.
They’ll have to figure out how to do that without Georgiev hitting the 60 game mark or overplaying Henrik Lundqvist.
