HARTFORD, Conn. — Most professional athletes will tell you they avoid reading their own clippings or spending much time on social media. How many actually abide by that is anyone’s guess, but we can safely assume at least some occasionally — and discreetly — give in to temptation.
Dylan Garand is unique in the sense that he doesn’t try to hide it. The New York Rangers’ goalie prospect, who’s in the midst of his fourth full season with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, came right out with it following Thursday’s practice at PeoplesBank Arena.
“Sometimes I look up my name on Twitter,” Garand told The Athletic, unprompted. “I’m not talked about a ton, so I can see a lot of stuff. And everyone just roasts me about how bad I’ve been this year.”
The criticism has added a layer of frustration to a season that hasn’t gone according to plan for Garand or the Wolf Pack, who have lost seven of their last eight and sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings entering Friday’s home game against the Utica Comets.
The message coming out of Thursday’s visit was that the situation isn’t as bad as Hartford’s 17-24-4-2 record suggests. Coach Grant Potulny compared it to their parent club’s start to the season, when the Rangers felt “they were playing good hockey; they just couldn’t get wins.” Garand echoed those sentiments from a team perspective, while also defending his individual numbers (11-12-2 record, .889 save percentage, 3.07 goals-against average).
“My stats this year are ass,” he said. “They’re so bad, it’s almost laughable, but I’m playing way better than my stats say. It’s tough sometimes when you play a game, and you get only 20 shots and maybe let in three or four goals, but you had eight breakaways and four shots from the slot. If that’s 12 shots and you’re saving nine of those, you’re gonna say, ‘He’s playing pretty good.’ I think the video would prove more.”
“I’m definitely not my best,” Garand added. “I’m not here to say that I’ve been playing unreal this year, because obviously, to my standard anyway, unreal, you would see it. But it’s tough in this league to get a feel for it when you’re not watching the games.”
There are no AHL analytics publicly available to gauge the quality of the scoring chances Garand has faced, but the standings indicate the play in front of all Hartford goalies has been lackluster. It’s also clearly been a season of streaks for the 23-year-old.
Garand was an AHL All-Star last season while posting career highs in wins (20), SV% (.913) and GAA (2.73), which earned him a selection to Team Canada for the 2025 IIHF World Championships. He came out of the gate slowly in 2025-26, though, posting sub-.900 save percentages in seven of his first 11 starts.
The 2020 fourth-round pick responded by catching fire, going 4-2 with a .958 SV%, 1.35 GAA and two shutouts to earn AHL goalie of the month honors in December. He opened January with another solid outing, stopping 21 of 22 shots faced in a Jan. 3 win over the Bridgeport Islanders. But there was a dip for the remainder of the month, with Garand registering an .875 SV% or worse in six of his next eight appearances.
“Sometimes, it’s like you look at a pitcher in baseball, or a guy who’s a (designated hitter),” Potulny said. “One year, the guy hits .310 and hits 40 home runs, and the next year he hits .290 and 20 home runs. Everybody’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s just, for whatever reason, it was a down year. The guy the next year could be back to his .310 and 40 home runs. The goaltending position is the same way.
“Some of it is, he had such a strong year last year that everybody always wants to build. But development doesn’t go like this,” the coach said while holding his arm up diagonally, then motioning his hand up-and-down and adding, “It’s like this.”
Igor Shesterkin owns the Rangers’ net, but a lower-body injury has kept him out since January. (James Guillory / Imagn Images)
That’s likely part of it, but a fairly obvious flashpoint that may have affected Garand’s psyche came after that strong Jan. 3 performance.
He entered the season under the impression he’d be next in line in the event of injury to either Rangers goalie, Igor Shesterkin or Jonathan Quick. So, when Shesterkin went down with a lower-body ailment on Jan. 5, which has kept him out of the lineup ever since, a clear path was created for Garand to make his NHL debut.
The timing seemed ripe considering New York’s struggles and stated desire to get younger, yet the call never came. Garand was passed over for Spencer Martin, a 30-year-old who had been playing in Russia’s KHL before signing as veteran insurance in November.
“It was disappointing not to be able to get an opportunity,” Garand said, “but maybe it’s for the best. Obviously, they went through a tough stretch up there, and one of my teammates was telling me, ‘Maybe it’s good. You don’t want to be a part of the problem.’ But I’ve told you before, I want nothing more than to play in the NHL. Like, I want it so bad. So I’ve just got to trust in my faith and know that I’m on the right path. I have a plan. I know I’m gonna play in the NHL, whether it’s here or not. I can’t control that, but it’s just one day at a time every day. Like today, I worked my butt off in practice, and I know that if I keep doing that every day, every day, every day, it’s gonna work out.”
While Garand was earning recognition as the AHL’s hottest goalie in the lead-up to Shesterkin’s injury, Martin went 1-5-2 with an .887 SV% and 3.47 GAA in eight appearances with the Wolf Pack. It sent a perplexing message about how much (or how little) merit weighs into such decisions, prompting a meeting between the young netminder and Rangers management.
Garand acknowledged a conversation occurred but was reticent to reveal the details.
“That’s a great question,” he said. “They did have a meeting with me. That’s probably all I’ll say about it.”
Whether it was frustration due to mixed messaging, inconsistency within his own game or a combination of the two, Garand went through his second rough patch of the season before finally settling with a couple decent starts to open February.
Potulny pointed to Garand’s excellent playoff track record, where he’s posted a career .927 SV%, as evidence that he could finish on another upswing. Meanwhile, Garand said he’s looked to Carolina Hurricanes goalie Brandon Bussi — a 27-year-old who spent multiple years toiling in the minor leagues before finally bursting onto the NHL scene this season — for inspiration.
“Last year, he literally was a backup goalie in the American Hockey League, which, to fans, they think, ‘Backup in the American League? Oh, he’s terrible.’ And now he’s a starting goalie in the NHL — one of the best goalies in the league. He’s setting NHL records, and he just signed a new contract,” Garand said. “Things happen quick, so it’s all about the belief in yourself and the psychology. I can make every save at any level. I do believe in that. …
“Patience is a key word, for sure. I’ve just got to keep faith that it’s gonna work out in the long run. We’ll see (how) at the end of the story.”