Georgiev has seen plenty of action against the Maple Leafs in his career and has played well, posting a .929 save percentage across five games. That includes both starts against Toronto this season. In the most recent he made 44 saves on 48 shots.
“We thought about that, but just decided we were gonna do this,” coach David Quinn said Tuesday after practice.
The Maple Leafs’ goaltending situation behind No. 1 Frederik Andersen has been subpar, with backup Michael Hutchinson posting a .886 save percentage and 3.62 goals against average in 14 games. Hutchinson will be in net Wednesday after Andersen left Monday’s game early with a neck injury that will keep him from traveling to New York.
Finding a trade partner for Georgiev would help solve the Rangers’ three-headed goalie situation. The 23-year-old, who will turn 24 Monday, has not started since Jan. 21. His only action since then came Monday night in mop-up duty after relieving Henrik Lundqvist to start the third period.
Quinn said Georgiev’s recent inaction is the reason why “he’s probably going to play on Friday” against the Sabres.
“We’re getting to the point where it’s going to be, someone’s gotta play really well,” Quinn said. “The guys that are playing really well will play. We’ve kind of been sorting this out with three, but it’s not an easy situation. But we’re going to make the best of it. These guys have handled it very well.”