The New York Rangers have done an excellent job of drafting and developing their goalies, as they went directly from having Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist in goal to now having a generational talent in Igor Shesterkin in goal. While they have once again gotten excellent goaltending this season, New York has struggled and is in last place in the Eastern Conference.
There have been bright spots like the strong season for Mika Zibanejad and the impressive play of rookies Gabe Perreault, Noah Laba, and Matthew Robertson, but the team has once again wasted the excellent play of Shesterkin.
Shesterkin’s Play This Season and the Rangers’ Struggles
Last season, Shesterkin had the lowest save percentage (SV%) of his career at .905 and the highest goals-against average (GAA) of his career at 2.86. However, while his numbers were down, they were largely because the Rangers were bad defensively, repeatedly allowing chances from the slot and odd-man rushes. He led the NHL in both shots faced (1,751) and saves (1,584), but they missed the playoffs after they had won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24.
The Rangers showed improved defensive play and allowed fewer chances from the slot and odd-man rushes early on this season. When they did, Shesterkin came up with a lot of big saves as he fought through traffic on shots from the point and controlled rebounds well. He used his quickness and ability to read plays to make tough saves after cross-ice passes, and throughout the season, he has kept the team in games when they have gotten outplayed.
Though the Rangers have shown defensive improvement, they have struggled offensively and have already been shut out nine times this season. Shesterkin allowed one goal on 29 shots in a shutout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins to open the season on Oct. 7 and he allowed one goal on 21 shots in a shutout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 14. The offensive woes have persisted all season and they were held to just 10 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on March 23 even though their star goalie stopped 31 of 33 shots to keep the game close.
Shesterkin missed 13 games with a lower-body injury before the Olympic break, and the Rangers went 2-11-0 in those games. He returned after the break and has continued his strong play in the second half of the season. He is 22-15-6 with a .912 SV% and a 2.55 GAA, but the team is 6-19-3 in games with its other goalies.
Shesterkin Deserves Praise for His Play With the Rangers
This is Shesterkin’s seventh season with the Rangers, and he has given the team plenty of chances to win games when they are badly outplayed. Throughout this season, he has made clutch saves late in close games that can easily be overlooked because the team is nowhere near a playoff spot.
Related: Top 3 All-Time Rangers Goalies
Shesterkin tends to play his best in close games and big moments, and he helped the Rangers make the playoffs in 2021-22 as he consistently stole games and finished with a 36-13-4 record, a .935 SV%, and a 2.07 GAA. He was the driving force behind their success that season and won the Vezina Trophy.
Shesterkin has also been elite in the playoffs. In 2021-22, he helped the Rangers come back from down 3-1 in their first-round matchup with the Penguins to advance in seven games. He also helped them come back from down 3-2 in their second round matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes to advance in seven games. He finished the postseason with a .929 SV% and a 2.59 GAA. He continued his great postseason play in 2022-23 with a .931 SV% and a 1.96 GAA, but New York lost in seven games to the New Jersey Devils in the first round.
In 2023-24, after helping the Rangers win the Presidents’ Trophy, he led them on another run to the Eastern Conference Final as he helped them beat the Hurricanes in six games in the second round despite getting outplayed badly in many of those games. He stopped 54 of 57 shots in a 4-3 double overtime victory in Game 2 and stopped 45 of 47 shots in an overtime victory in Game 3. He finished the postseason with a .926 SV% and a 2.34 GAA.
The Rangers Need to Build Around Shesterkin
This season, the Rangers have been uncompetitive despite great play from Shesterkin. He is 30 years old, and it is unclear how many more seasons he has left in his prime, so the hope is that they will be able to develop their young players and steadily improve over the next few seasons. If not, they risk repeating what happened with Lundqvist and failing to win a Cup despite having an elite goalie to build around.
