Rangers call up goalie as Igor Shesterkin steps away from the team.

The New York Rangers have made a pretty significant change to their roster ahead of today's game against the Seattle Kraken.

According to a report from Rangers insider Mollie Walker, the Rangers have called up goaltender Dylan Garand from the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolf Pack due to goaltender Igor Shesterkin stepping away from the team.

Garand will back up Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick in today's afternoon game against the Kraken.

Shesterkin has just about the best excuse imaginable for stepping away today with his wife currently going into labor as the couple awaits the birth of their child. That likely means that this will not be a prolonged absence from Shesterkin, which is good news for the team as they play tomorrow against the Chicago Blackhawks and again on Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Here is how the Rangers full lineup looked during warmups ahead of today's game:

Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière
Kreider-Zibanejad-Smith
Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko
Edström-Carrick-Vesey

Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Schneider
Jones-Mancini

Quick
Garand

Shesterkin has been the Rangers most valuable player this season, keeping the team in the playoff hunt even as their play has seen its fair share of struggles on the ice, so his return will be eagerly anticipated. Over 19 games this season the Russian netminder has a 2.99 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.