Had a chance to connect with a couple of friends out west. I'll say this- kid's been a winner so far, and he is going to be a number 1 in the league for the next couple of years. This could be an absolute home run of a pick if he keeps playing the way he's been playing and improves things for the pro level, and becoming more consistent. As far as goaltending in the WHL goes. You can get some bad goalies. There are games where a good team knows that they can hit a 7 spot on a bad team with a bad goalie.
You also have teams where they play a more pro style system, and a pro style program. That's where you can get a Dustin Wolf who posts up ridiculous numbers and goes in the 7th. That same program also produced Carter Hart.
Garand does not play for such a team. He plays for a team that likes to run and gun and score, and... he wins. He wins a lot of games. After talking to a couple of people, I believe that the Rangers walked away with not only the best draft eligible defenseman out of the WHL, but the best goalie out of the league as well, which is really good value for a 4th.
Great side-to-side movement. Good legs, aggressive, challenges, and enjoys eating pucks. His team gives up a lot of rush chances and he can stop them. Has a highlight reel glove. He's also described as a guy who can get hot and steal games for stretches. Statistically, this kid had streaks of domination. That's something pro teams, and goalie coaches value. It's also something that gets you on national teams since you're trying to win a short tournament. No goalie has an A+ outing every game, but when you can string together a few A's in a row, that can help your team win, then you've got a bonafide number 1 guy.
With Garand, consistency is a key difference between a pro-league tandem goalie, and a guy who is going towards being a real number 1 out there.