The Rangers Cannot Afford to Lose Shesterkin For an Extended Period of Time

In Igor Shesterkin, the New York Rangers have one of the best goalies in the world.

Ever since joining the Blueshirts during the 2019-20 season, Shesterkin, 30, has done everything he can to give the Rangers excellent goaltending on a consistent basis in order to win hockey games. Heck, some would even say he has gone above and beyond the call of duty considering that the Ranger teams he has played on were/are not known for their offensive prowess and were instead known for making life difficult for Shesterkin.

As of this writing (Tuesday, January 7), Shesterkin is 179-100-0-26 with a 2.52 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage, and 22 shutouts in 308 regular season games. He has also been outstanding in the Stanley Cup playoffs as he is currently 23-20 with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage in 44 games.

Basically put, Shesterkin has been everything and more for the Rangers. Without him, who knows what they would have done in the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, there is a chance that they might have to deal with not having him for a bit. In his team's 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, Utah Mammoth forward JJ Peterka collided with Shesterkin late in the first period, and he would go on to miss the rest of the game with a lower-body injury.

After the game, Rangers' head coach Mike Sullivan said that he did not know the extent of the injury, but did say that Shesterkin is someone who is very hard to replace.

There are certain guys that drive your team,” Sullivan said. “He’s one of them for us. He’s an elite player at his position. I think he’s one of the very best in the game. When you lose a player like that for any length of time, those types of players are difficult to replace.

Shesterkin has been the team's best player this season. As of this writing, he is 17-12-0-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage, and one shutout in 34 games.

On the other hand, the rest of his teammates (not including Jonathan Quick), have not been as consistent as Shesterkin. Because of that, the team is on the outside looking in when it comes to a playoff spot.

The Blueshirts are currently 20-18-6 for 46 points. This puts them three points out of the second wild card spot, which is currently being held by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Now, the good news is that the Rangers have more than a capable backup goaltender in Quick. The soon to be 40-year old is currently 3-6-0-2 with a 2.23 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage, and one shutout.

With that said, no one knows if Quick would be able to handle the starter's load moving forward should Shesterkin be out for an extended period of time. He is set to turn 40 in a few weeks, he plays aggressively between the pipes, and it has been a long time since he has been a number one goaltender in the NHL.

Again, no one knows how much time, if any, Shesterkin is going to miss, as nothing has been reported on that front. However, if it is determined that he is going to miss a lot of time, the Rangers could end up being in a lot of trouble moving forward.