Last year was a mixed bag for New York Rangers All-Star goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
After struggling for much of the first half of the season, Shesterkin, 27, finished the regular season with a record of 37-13-0-8 with a 2.48 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage, and three shutouts. This was a far cry from the regular season he had the previous year when he was 36-13-0-4 with a 2.07 goals-against average, a .935 save percentage, and six shutouts which led him to win the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender.
The Stanley Cup playoffs were also up and down for Shesterkin. While his play was outstanding, as he was 3-4 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage, the team was knocked out in seven games by the New Jersey Devils.
I am going to throw this out there now and say that Shesterkin wins his second Vezina Trophy this upcoming season. There are a few reasons why I believe this will happen.
For starters, he has all the skills in the world. He’s quick; he controls his rebounds; he has a great glove hand; he can play the puck; he’s great when he faces a lot of shots, can stop breakaways, and is simply a world-class netminder.
Even though he had somewhat of an “off” season last year, Shesterkin is one of the league’s most consistent netminders. Night in and night out, he does everything he can to be his team’s best player, and more often than not, the team can count on him to be there whenever they make a mistake.
Under new head coach Peter Laviolette, the Rangers should end up being a more structured team. As such, Shesterkin should get a lot of help from his teammates, and as a result, his goals-against average should go down.
Lastly, Shesterkin is going to come into the season extremely motivated to show that last season was just a blip on the radar screen. He will come into this season looking to not only be better than his friend Ilya Sorokin (Vezina Trophy finalist last season) of the New York Islanders but better than every other goaltender in the league.
With Shesterkin’s competitive style, play between the pipes, and newfound motivation, watch for him to turn in a dazzling 2023-24 season.
