This is beginning to get a little bit ridiculous now watching the Rangers continue to deploy this three goalie system. Everyone with a brain knew that calling up Shesterkin, even though he’s shown he’s beyond ready for the NHL, was going to complicate things for the Rangers but now things are starting to get a bit crazy.

Henrik Lundqvist has shown that he has no issue taking a backseat to let the youth grow and develop and help mentor these young goalies get acclimated to the NHL but while you’re still paying him you need to play him. He’s shown that he’s not willing to waive his NMC in order to chase a Cup elsewhere. He started his career as a Ranger and he wants to go out as a Ranger and for that I can’t blame him at all, I actually applaud him for it. Everyone who’s followed Lundqvist’s career knows that he’s always been the kind of goalie that thrives on a lot of playing time and that couldn’t have been more evident than his last start Saturday night in St. Louis.

This whole situation also doesn’t help to try and build the value of Georgiev, who behind Chris Kreider is the team’s most valuable trade chip. At this point in the year with the trade deadline only a mere month away you want to try and show off Georgie as much as you possibly can to try and at least create a bidding war for his services for what could be a rather shallow trading pool to move him. He’s going to be making his second consecutive start this week against the New York Islanders again on Thursday night after his impressive showing against them on Monday night. Like I outlined earlier with already knowing that Lundqvist isn’t willing to move on to pursue a Cup elsewhere, Georgiev is most likely not part of the Rangers long term plans, so get him out there and show him off to maximize his return!

Maybe the one this hurts the most is Igor Shesterkin because even though he made two starts since he was called up, he’ll have not seen the ice in a week when the Rangers challenge the Islanders on Thursday night. I understand calling him up was due to his stellar play in Hartford and he’s ready for NHL action but the problem remains you can’t start him twice and then sit him for a week straight. To remain sharp he needs to see game action and not just practice time which right now he’s just not getting. In the long run I don’t believe that this will really hinder his development because I think he’s such a special talent but this isn’t how you handle a young players development. This again looks bad for the coaching staff who has already been hounded for how they handle the development of young players, just look at how they’ve been roasted for the handling of Lias Andersson.

Until the Rangers figure out where they want to trade Georgiev to, they need to return Shesterkin back to Hartford and let him continue his dominance over the AHL while letting him get those crucial gametime reps. I have no issue with Georgiev continuing to start over Lundqvist as long as it’s just 40 and number 30 rotating between the pipes until the trade deadline where Georgiev finds a new home in Toronto, San Jose, or wherever else. This madness with trying to find ice with three goaltenders needs to end and it needs to end quickly.