It appears as if Jonathan Quick is inching closer to making a return for the New York Rangers.
Quick landed on injured reserve after a collision with Michael Carcone in the third period of the Rangers' 3-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Nov. 22.
Starting on Monday, Quick resumed practicing with the team, and Sullivan confirmed that he’s making significant progress in his recovery from his lower-body injury.
“He is obviously back involved with the practice environment, and we'll see where that goes moving forward,” Sullivan said. “We feel (Quick) is making progress.”
With Quick out of the lineup, the Rangers recalled Dylan Garand who backed up Igor Shesterkin for a total of four games before being sent back down to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.
In place of Garand, the Rangers called up Spencer Martin, a goaltender the Blueshirts signed to a two-year contract on Nov. 12.
Martin was previously playing in the KHL with CSKA Moscow before his contract was bought out after 14 games.
The 30-year-old goaltender has played in 66 total NHL games for the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Carolina Hurricanes.
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In those 66 games, Martin recorded a 24-30-8 record, 3.56 goals against average, and .883 save percentage.
Sullivan explained why the team decided to call up Martin while sending Garand back down to the AHL.
“We don’t want anybody sitting on the sidelines too long,” Sullivan said about why he sent Garand back down to the Wolf Pack. “We want guys playing, and that's an important aspect that we try to manage all the time. Spencer is a guy that we don't have a lot of familiarity with. It gives us an opportunity to get to know him a bit, seeing practice things of that nature. I think those are a few of the reasons why.”
Martin will serve as Shesterkin's backup goalie on Tuesday night when the Rangers play the Dallas Stars.