Latest On Alexandar Georgiev

All season long, fans and media members have speculated that the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs could be potential trade partners when it came to the backup goaltending position. The Maple Leafs have struggled with it all year, while the Rangers have young Alexandar Georgiev seemingly being pushed out by top prospect Igor Shesterkin. Last night, Darren Dreger of TSN tweeted that the Maple Leafs were one of the teams that inquired about Georgiev and this morning James Mirtle of The Athletic takes it even further.

Mirtle writes (subscription required) that the Maple Leafs have made “multiple” inquiries into the availability of Georgiev, but that the Rangers have been asking for a young NHL player in return.

Interestingly, after the Rangers’ win last night against the New York Islanders, Dreger threw some cold water on the whirlwind rumors by tweeting that the team may be changing their mind about selling off pieces. The Rangers are after all just six points out of a playoff spot and now hold a positive goal differential.

But Georgiev’s situation doesn’t have a ton to do with the immediate success of the team. It is obvious that Shesterkin is the heir apparent at this point to Henrik Lundqvist‘s crown, meaning there are too many mouths to feed for next season. Add in the fact that Georgiev is a restricted free agent at season’s end and will require a reasonable raise, and it makes sense why the team would be looking to leverage his value right now.