The Rangers Changing Of The Guard From King Henrik To Prince Igor Begins Tonight
The heir to the King has finally arrived.
Igor Shesterkin was a 4th round pick back in 2014, but it wasn’t until his ’16-17 KHL season where he really started to get Rangers fans’ attention. His stats since then have been laugh-out-loud dominant and he’s so far put to rest any concerns of his ability to transition from playing behind a stacked KHL squad to the North American game by continuing to be as-advertised in Hartford.
Shesty pairs insane reflexes & lateral movement with a work ethic & concentration level reminiscent of the HOFer he’ll soon replace. He’s aced every level so far, with the 24 year-old now getting his first crack on the big stage against the best of the best while playing behind the worst of the worst (defensively). Let’s make sure to take this into account when burying our prized possession with expectations. Hank’s stats ain’t pretty – 3.10/.910 – but if you look deeper into the analytics everyone loves (which I think actually mean more for a goalie than a skater) he’s been among the best in the league when factoring in degree of difficulty:
Only 12 starters are even in the positive and most don’t sniff the onslaught Lundqvist faces whenever he’s between the pipes. No goalie faces more rush & rebound attempts per 60 and second isn’t all that close. So he’s trying to anchor a defense that’s essentially a welcome mat for zone entries & enjoys allowing their guests an extra whack or two after initial saves before deciding to help out. You could argue some of Hank’s high-danger workload is due to a self-inflicted lack of rebound control but that’s kinda the purpose of defenders. Overall though, there’s no more difficult a team to goaltend for than the one Shesterkin will be backstopping tonight in front of a national TV audience.
How the Blueshirts handle their goalie trio in the immediate future remains to be seen – but long term, it’s pretty easy to predict Georgiev will be the odd man out. Not only is Hank still playing well but he’s got a no-move, has repeatedly said he won’t go anywhere and quite frankly has a pretty important hand in the Rangers future by mentoring his heir who’s idolized him. Georgie can no longer be sent to the AHL without clearing waivers first (he obviously wouldn’t) – so while the waiver-exempt rookie might be yo-yo’d up & down a bit for as long as #40 remains a Ranger, there will be a resolution in the form of a trade soon enough. History dictates goalie deals usually occur during the offseason so I wouldn’t hold my breath on those Georgiev-for-Bracco deadline rumors (although I’d be all for it). Plus, realistically speaking, it’s rare when a fanbase gets behind a player-for-player trade that “makes perfect sense for both sides” actually happens.
And while we’re being realistic, let’s remember something. We’ve been SPOILED watching a top-20 goaltender of all time for the last 15 years. It’s extremely likely Shesterkin is nowhere near as good as Hank’s decade-long prime simply because only a handful in the history of hockey ever have been. Also, there’s no goalie on earth who can single-handedly turn this current squad into a playoff contender. To do so the Rangers would need the second half of their season to match the Islanders first half (26-12-3) and that’s not happening. That doesn’t mean the kid can’t or won’t be great though and that certainly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be pumped. The changing of the guard is underway, from King Henrik to Prince Igor.