MTPS: A Helle of a Time to Move On From Igor Shesterkin

A season that started out with so much fun has been derailed by a gruesome injury to Igor Shesterkin. With 79 games left in the season, now is the time for the Rangers, and their fans, to ask … what's next?

At the moment it happened, we all thought the same thing: "This is bad." Less than 24 hours later, our fears for how bad it was were confirmed.

Let us be clear: We still do not know exactly how bad this is. I will say, though, that for the New York Rangers to determine in less than 24 hours that this was season-ending means that it is a brutal injury, and now the best-case scenario is that he's able to return next season (more on that later).

The goalie problems, however, do not end with Shesterkin. The New York Post's Mollie Walker confirmed that Joonas Korpisalo will miss the next four weeks with an injury we still know nothing about. Head coach Mike Sullivan announced that Dylan Garand will be the team's starting goaltender, at least until Korpisalo returns, at which point they will reassess. As for who will back up Garand, Hartford Wolf Pack goaltender Spencer Martin, who had missed the team's last few games with a lower-body injury, has been cleared to return and, in all likelihood, will serve in that role. Behind him, the only other option for the Rangers is second-year man Callum Tung, an undrafted free agent in his first full season in the AHL after splitting last year between the AHL and ECHL.

So there you have it. At least until mid-November, the goalie combination will be Garand and Martin.

Just like the Rangers drew it up. For Hartford.

The Rangers need help. Don't get me wrong, Garand has played well every single time he has been called upon for the Rangers. He has played (as of this writing) 275 minutes and given up six goals. That's great. It's also a tiny sample size. And we know that Martin is terrible.

The good news for Garand and the Rangers is that they play 20 games between now and the end of November with only one set of back-to-back games, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Given that schedule, is it possible Garand starts every game and Korpisalo is ready to go in time for the second leg of that back-to-back? I suppose so. That would probably be the best-case scenario for the Rangers right now.

But I say again: The Rangers need help.

To that end, ESPN's Emily Kaplan has already stated the obvious: that the Rangers are looking for help in net.

Eric will soon pen a column looking at some realistic options for the Rangers to acquire. That makes sense, as Eric is a realistic guy. I am not realistic. In fact, the only person less real than me is probably my nonexistent sister.

As such, I'm going to look at the bigger swing. The rumors and whispers are already swirling, and, why not, realistic or not, it makes total sense …