Rangers' Quick Continues to Defy Father Time

When the New York Rangers signed goaltender Jonathan Quick as an unrestricted free agent (UFA) after the 2022-23 season, many Ranger fans and pundits alike were skeptical.

He was coming off a poor season with the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights and looked every bit like a 37-year-old goaltender. He did not look as quick, he got caught out of position more often than not, he allowed a lot of soft goals, and just did not look like himself.

That all seemed to change when the Blueshirts signed him to a one-year contract in the offseason of 2023. Quick impacted the team in a positive way in his first year with the club as he went 18-6-0-2 with a 2.62 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage, and two shutouts.

Last season was not only a tough one for the Rangers, but it was also rough for Quick. Quick finished the season with a record of 11-7-0-2 to go along with a 3.17 goals-against average, a .893 save percentage, and three shutouts.

With that said, Quick's struggles were certainly not all his fault. The team played terribly in front of both him and starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin last season.

What is really amazing is the way that Quick, who got injured in his team's 3-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night in Utah, has played this season. As of this writing (Monday, November 24), Quick is 3-3 with a 1.69 goals-against average, a .944 save percentage, and one shutout.

There are a lot of reasons why Quick is playing well this season. For starters, he is clearly seeing the puck well right now.

He is making the saves he is supposed to make, is not allowing soft goals, is doing what he can to control his rebounds, and is making himself look big between the pipes. When you put all of these things together, you have a goaltender who is both physically and mentally sharp.

Speaking of being mentally sharp, Quick is playing with a lot of confidence right now. He is challenging shooters, is playing at the top of his crease, and is battling to stop every single puck that is thrown his way.

Lastly, and more importantly, he is doing everything he can to help his team win. Even in his three losses this season, Quick did his part in each of those three games by making timely saves and giving his team a chance to win all of them.

A perfect example of this is the way he played against Utah on Saturday night. He stopped 31 of 34 shots, several of the spectacular variety, and deserved a much better fate than the one he got.

Rangers' forward Will Cuylle told reporters after the team's loss on Saturday night that Quick's performance should not have surprised anyone.

“I feel like it’s every game, he gives us a really good chance to win,” forward Will Cuylle said. “Obviously, huge saves. He’s a world-class goalie, so lucky to have him.”

Cuylle's teammate, defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, echoed Cuylle's thoughts on Quick's steady goaltending after the game on Saturday night.

“Quickie was great,” said defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who tipped in an Adam Fox shot in the first period for his third goal of the season. “Made for us a couple huge saves, kept us in the game, and that’s exactly what we need in the moment.”

As briefly mentioned earlier in this article, Quick was shaken up on a play in which Mammoth forward Michael Carcone drove hard to the net and collided with Quick. Quick managed to finish the game, but is currently being evaluated to see the extent of the injury.

The Rangers better hope that Quick will not miss too much time, if any at all, because he has been fantastic this season and they need him and his terrific goaltending if they want to have any chance to get back to postseason.