Blackburn's situation as an 18 year old was confusing. In camp he outplayed all other candidates for the back-up job. I still think the best course of action would have been to send him back to juniors for one season and sign Skudra (I believe he was in camp and played fairly well). People said Blackburn didn't have anything left to learn in juniors, but getting a large workload that season would have been beneficial. Then during his 19 year old season I think he should have been given the back-up job and started 20-25 games to get his feet wet (also, at that point he probably would have gotten everything out of juniors that he possibly could). The AHL would have been preferable, but I believe the minimum age for juniors players is 20. Then when he was eligible for the AHL he should have started for Hartford for a couple of seasons before coming to New York to either split time or be the number one.
Also, Blackburn's injury can't be attributed to his being rushed into the NHL as an 18 year old. An offseason injury while conditioning is a fluke occurance (especially such a serious and debilitating one).
As far as Montoya, his play can't be glossed over. Very rarely did he play up to his potential in the WJC. But, people who damn him for one stretch of games are being rash. It's possible that if he recovers from the adversity he experiences, this will turn into a positive step in his development. If his performance is indicative of how his play will be thereafter, then he can be dubbed a bust (still, that won't be known for quite some time yet).
The Rangers have never had a true franchise goaltender in recent memory. Richter played very well for some stretches, but never with the consistency that would have given people the grounds to call him a franchise goaltender. From listening to Renney and Maloney, their blueprint seems to begin with acquiring and developing a true franchise goaltender. If you look at their system, there is an abundance of defensive defensemen and defensive/character forwards. They're obviously trying to head in that direction, though I wish they'd add more skill players.
Since this thread has pretty much turned into a discussion of all goalies in the Rangers' system, I wanted to say something on Lundqvist. He went from being overlooked by most people to being hyped quite a bit, and then subsequently ignored by some who felt he was getting too much attention. His accomplishments internationally and in the SEL shouldn't be discounted, but until he comes over it should be acknowledged that, in regards to the North American game, he is unproven. I like him quite a bit (more than Montoya, though not based on his WJC performance) and think he'll turn out fine. That being said, he still has questions to answer.