OTTAWA — After Connor Hellebuyck was traded to the Devils on Friday, the Metropolitan Division is officially a gauntlet of goaltending.
The deal — which features Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Nick Bjugstad, Alexander Command, a 2027 seventh-round pick and a 2029 second-rounder as the return for the longtime Jets goalie — puts arguably the three best goaltenders in the world in the tri-state area.
Teams will have to face Igor Shesterkin (when he returns from injury next season), Ilya Sorokin and Hellebuyck during the New York-New Jersey swing.
The Capitals also have Logan Thompson, a goalie with a career .911 save percentage, manning their net.
“I mean, Sorokin, Hellebuyck, Shesterkin, it’s a lot of good goalie [play],” Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan said after practice at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday. “There’s a lot of good goalies. It’s going to challenge our shooters.”
Since the 2020-21 season, when Sorokin made his NHL debut, the three tri-state netminders round out the top four save percentages in the league among goaltenders with at least 150 games played over that span.
Though Shesterkin leads the pack with a .916 save percentage, which is tied with Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark, Hellebuyck and Sorokin are tied with the Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy at .915.
The Rangers’ No. 1 goalie, who is out for the season with a knee injury he sustained in the club’s’ sixth game, has the best goals against average of the trio since 2020-21 at 2.51.
Hellebuyck (2.55) has a slight edge over Sorokin (2.58) in that category.
The Hellebuyck-to-New Jersey trade was a blockbuster that finally ended the 33-year-old’s saga in Winnipeg.
After missing the playoffs last season, Hellebuyck requested a trade out of Winnipeg despite five seasons remaining on his contract. The Jets, Hellebuyck and his agent made it public at the end of August.
His refusal to report to training camp, however, led to a team-imposed suspension.
Crowned the best goaltender in the world as he accepted his Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Milan in February, Hellebuyck is now bringing his talents to the East Coast.
For the second straight practice, Sean Durzi did not participate for what the Rangers are describing as “maintenance” purposes.
Asked if there was concern about the 28-year-old defenseman not being able to play Saturday against the Senators, Sullivan did not offer much.
“I don’t know. He’s got a maintenance day right now,” he said. “We’ll see how he is, and we’ll make a decision.”
Late in the third period in Monday’s win over the Ducks, Durzi blocked a shot that hit his hand. It’s unclear if there’s any correlation between the play and his maintenance days, but Durzi notably didn’t log any shorthanded minutes in Toronto on Thursday.
After turning a professional tryout agreement into a one-year contract, Luke Glendening is eligible to make his Rangers debut any game now. Sullivan wouldn’t commit to when that would be.
“We’re taking each day as it comes,” he said. “You know, see how he feels, and then we’ll make decisions game by game here. But we feel like he’s getting closer.”
Eeli Tolvanen did not participate in practice Friday for personal reasons.
