Spencer Martin relishing ‘surreal’ Rangers chance

Spencer Martin admits it. At the start of the season, the 30-year-old was fighting for time with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, and that’s “a long way from a chance like this,” he said Wednesday from his locker at the Rangers’ practice facility in Tarrytown.

It took Martin’s contract getting terminated after 14 KHL games, a 5-6-0 record and a .905 save percentage.

It took a two-year deal with the Rangers materializing shortly after for a possible avenue back to the NHL to exist in the first place.

It took Martin leapfrogging 23-year-old Dylan Garand on the organization’s goaltending depth chart despite just a 1-4-1 record and a .903 save percentage with AHL Hartford.

And now, in what he described as a “surreal” opportunity, Martin sits one Jonathan Quick injury away from being the Rangers’ starting goaltender with Igor Shesterkin (lower-body injury) on injured reserve.

“I guess I’m getting to that point where I have comfortability in this type of situation,” Martin said. “It’s exciting to do it again here.”

Though it’s unclear just how much the Rangers will need to rely on Martin, Quick’s ability to handle a full workload at nearly 40 remains the critical variable.

Martin wanted to keep conversations about his role with head coach Mike Sullivan private.

But Martin has collected plenty of experience. He has started 59 NHL games and appeared in 66 dating back to his debut in 2016-17 with the Avalanche — who selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft.

Martin also appeared in games for the Canucks, Blue Jackets and Hurricanes, and he spent the past two seasons splitting time between Carolina (7-5-2 record, .869 save percentage) and AHL Chicago.

In between those NHL stints, Martin has logged 251 AHL games, too. He last played an NHL game in November 2024.

An ideal world for the Rangers would involve a short absence for Shesterkin and Quick handling most of the games.

But if that’s not the case, Martin’s whirlwind journey to his latest NHL chance could take another step.

“A lot of it is just based on performance and how guys are playing,” Sullivan said of choosing Martin over Garand, “and we obviously have to have a guy that is gonna give us the best chance to win when we put him in the net.”