Draft Radar Scouting Report: Goaltending
The Rangers may have one of the best goaltenders in the world, but in order to maintain their reputation as a goalie factory, they must continue to draft and develop in the crease.
Goaltending may seem like the least important focus areas for the New York Rangers as they head into the 2026 off season. But in terms of the draft, it is something that needs to be prioritized.
As I mentioned towards the end of the regular season, goaltending is a growing need for this organization. The long and short of it is that, beyond Igor Shesterkin, Dylan Garand is really the only goalie who has some promise, at least at this point in time. Both of Hugo Ollas and Talyn Boyko have been loaned overseas and likely won’t have much of a future with the Rangers organization. Callum Tung could be something, but for now, he still has plenty of work to do in the AHL. Spencer Martin is still an option and could be enough to give Dylan Garand some competition as Shesterkin’s backup this season. But outside of them and any free agents the Rangers bring on over the summer, the Rangers future in the blue paint looks a bit bleak.
With four third-round picks, two sixth-rounders, and a seventh, the Rangers have plenty of draft capital to warrant selecting one, if not two goalies. Scattered throughout this year’s draft are a number of intriguing netminders who should be in consideration.
Here are five names the Rangers should think about.
Brady Knowling - U.S. National Development Program
I mentioned Knowling in my story that focused on third round targets for the Rangers so I won’t go too deep into his analysis here. But Knowling should be atop the Rangers list.
He’s not the clear cut top goalie in this draft (that title belongs to UMass-Amherst commit Tobias Trejbal), but he has been among the top goalies in this draft for most of the season. He now falls into the third round, perhaps even early fourth round, neighborhood of projections. At 6-5, 202 pounds and a Boston University commit, Knowling should surely be of interest to the Rangers.
Patriks Plumins - Zemgale, Latvia
Latvia is a country on the rise in the game of hockey, and a name that has stood out as of late—especially in the U-18 World Juniors—is Patriks Plumins.
At 6-3, 216 pounds, Plumins catches left and is ranked 18th on NHL Central Scouting's list of international goalies. He had a remarkable World Junior tournament as he has a GAA of 1.60 and a SV% of .947 across five games played. Even more promising is the 1.50 GAA and .927 SV% he had with Zemgale in Latvia’s top league, recording three shutouts in his 16 games played.
Plumins plays a very composed game and tracks the puck really well, which is the part of his game that stands out the most to me. He is incredibly solid positionally and does a good enough job at controlling his rebounds. He also recovers from broken plays and redirected pucks as well as a goalie ought to be able to.
From what I’ve seen, there are very few negatives to his game. He does have the tendency to be a little over-aggressive, especially when it comes to playing the puck or utilizing his stick. You’ll see, especially in that highlight reel from the World Juniors against Team USA, not only does he come out to play the puck often, but anytime the play is within his reach, he’s looking to swat it out of harm's way. When executed, this is extremely effective, but can be something that gets him into trouble against higher-end competition.
It’s always tough to project where exactly goalies are going to go on draft day but this is a guy I’d be okay with spending a fifth round pick on. Unfortunately, the Rangers don’t have one, but assuming he remains available in the sixth round, he should absolutely be a name they consider with the higher of their two picks there.
