Igor Shesterkin has spent years carrying the New York Rangers’ weight on his shoulders, and now he may have the clearest path yet to a second Vezina Trophy.
He already owns one, earned in 2021-22. But a second would move him into rare air and strengthen the case that he’s been one of the defining goalies of the 2020s, a status Connor Hellebuyck has already locked down. With the way the Rangers have shaped their roster heading into 2026-27, this feels like Shesterkin’s best chance to get there.
The timing is right because Shesterkin is coming off one of his better seasons in recent memory. In 51 games, he posted a 2.50 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.
Those numbers don’t match the .935 save percentage and 2.07 goals against average that fueled his first Vezina run, but they were a clear step forward from the 2024-25 season, when he put up the worst numbers of his career. More importantly, it showed that the down year two seasons ago was not the new normal.
After missing time because of injury, he still looked like himself, not a goalie fighting through rust.
That matters because the Rangers are going to lean hard on him. If they’re going to have a successful season, Shesterkin will be central to it.
The safety net behind him is not what it used to be, either. Jonathan Quick is gone, and while Joonas Korpisalo is in the picture as a former starter, he does not bring the same kind of depth Quick provided during his Hall of Fame worthy career.
That means Shesterkin should be asked to play more, and that workload could make his numbers stand out even more.
New York has also tried to give him a stronger defensive structure in front of him. Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov emerged as one of the league’s best pairings, and the Rangers added Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi this summer, a duo that should give them another solid option.
Then there’s the Albert Smits and Braden Schneider pairing, which remains a bit of a wild card. Altogether, the blue line looks deeper and more stable, which should mean fewer shots and less strain on Shesterkin.
The award will still come down to numbers, because that’s how general managers vote. But if Shesterkin can do more than just post strong stats and actually drag the Rangers back to the playoffs, that could be the edge he needs. There’s a built-in narrative here, too: taking one of hockey’s most recognizable brands back to the postseason for the first time since 2023-24 would be hard for voters to ignore.
That’s the opportunity in front of him now. If the Rangers’ summer overhaul works the way Chris Drury envisioned, Shesterkin could have everything he needs to finish the season back at the top of the goalie conversation. His push starts tonight against Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
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Rangers Near-Miss May Have Changed Chris Drurys Entire Blue Line Plan
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Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi gave the Rangers more of what they needed in the moment, while Alberts Smits and Pavel Dorofeyev added to the overall roster mix. In that sense, the failed Nikishin pursuit may have mattered less for what New York missed than for how it clarified the rest of Chris Drurys approach, turning a narrow target into a more complete reset of the back end. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Opened The Season With A Problem They Need To Fix Fast
The Rangers did not get the kind of opening-night response they wanted in Boston, where they were shut out 3-0 and left to start the season with an immediate offensive concern. Jeremy Swayman turned aside 24 shots for the Bruins, and the scoreboard stayed quiet long enough to make the result feel less like a one-night stumble and more like an early warning sign.
Bostons scoring came from Fraser Minten, JJ Peterka, and Mark Kastelic, a spread of production that only sharpened the contrast for New York. The Rangers have no time to dwell on it, but they will have to find a quicker answer with the season just getting underway and the pressure to correct course already building. [Read more 🡒]