It took one ugly night at Madison Square Garden to lay bare just how thin the Rangers are without Igor Shesterkin.
The Los Angeles Kings arrived in New York with one of the league’s lowest-scoring offenses, then hung six goals on the Blueshirts while New York cycled through two goaltenders. That’s the kind of result that doesn’t just sting - it exposes a team’s soft spot in bright neon.
Shesterkin is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, and the Rangers are feeling every bit of that absence. What looked like a record-setting extension is suddenly looking even smarter by the day, because this team is scrambling for answers and finding almost none.
Chris Drury tried to patch the hole by signing 38-year-old James Reimer, but the move collapsed fast. Reimer allowed three goals on eight shots before Mike Sullivan pulled him after 20 minutes.
The idea was to buy the Rangers time. Instead, it only reminded everyone how deep the problem goes.
Dylan Garand has done what he can, but the workload is catching up to him. He can’t be asked to start every night until Joonas Korpisalo comes back, and there still isn’t a timeline for that return.
Against the Kings, Garand was supposed to get some relief. Instead, he ended up finishing the final 40 minutes, which made the Reimer start feel almost pointless.
There is some room to breathe now, though not much. The Rangers sit at 7-6-1, and their next game doesn’t come until after Halloween.
That break should help Garand recover before the Nov. 1 home game against Edmonton. After that, the conversation shifts right back to managing the workload in goal.
The Rangers can still hang around and fight for a playoff spot without Shesterkin, but it will take help. Korpisalo has to be reliable once he’s healthy, because this team needs a real 1-2 punch in net. Right now, it doesn’t have one.
And this is where Shesterkin’s contract looks like money well spent. Drury’s extension came in at an exact $11,567,857 cap hit, a number that drew plenty of skepticism from the usual “goalies are voodoo” crowd.
But this stretch has shredded that argument. Shesterkin doesn’t just matter - he shapes the entire franchise, whether he’s in the crease or stuck in the trainer’s room.
The Rangers were wise to lock him up when they did. If he had been heading into free agency with the cap rising, he likely would have had leverage to land $14 million or more. Instead, New York has him signed through the 2032-33 season, and in a season like this one, that security looks priceless.
In Other News...
Mike Sullivans Rangers Identity Is Taking Shape Under Real Pressure
Mike Sullivan arrived in New York with the kind of mandate that only follows a collapse, inheriting a Rangers team that had gone from winning the Presidents Trophy to finishing last in the Eastern Conference. Early on, the change has looked less like a quick fix and more like a slow rebuild of habits, with the Rangers leaning into a more aggressive, structured style that Sullivan has tried to imprint from day one.
The encouraging part for the Rangers is that the process has not been derailed by adversity, even with key injuries complicating the picture, including stretches without Igor Shesterkin. The identity Sullivan has been pressing for is starting to show up in the details, especially on the defensive side, and while the full payoff still feels a little ways off, the team has already given reason to believe the system is taking hold under real pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rempe Trade Buzz Gives Rangers Fans A Real Asset Question
A familiar type of trade chatter has found its way back to Matt Rempe, whose size and edge have made him an obvious talking point around the league even as his role with the Rangers has remained limited. The 23-year-old forward has flashed the kind of physical presence teams say they want, but he has also spent much of his time trying to carve out consistent minutes and prove he can be more than just a rugged option on the fourth line.
For New York, any genuine market around Rempe says as much about league-wide appetite for bulk and snarl as it does about his own future. Edmontons interest adds another wrinkle, especially with a coach like Mike Babcock known for valuing bigger, tougher forwards, but the Rangers still have to weigh whether moving a player with a very specific profile helps or hurts the mix they are trying to build. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Bottom Six Suddenly Has A Real Taylor Raddysh Problem
Taylor Raddyshs path with the Rangers has already taken a quick turn this season. After being placed on waivers and sent to Hartford, the veteran winger wasted little time making his presence felt in the AHL, then got another chance in New York when rookie Jaroslav Chmela struggled to provide much impact at the NHL level. Once back with the big club, Raddysh has fit in well enough in a limited role to keep himself in the conversation.
Now the question is how the Rangers want to sort out a bottom six that still looks like it could use more stability. The coaching staff is weighing lineup changes to get more out of that group, and Raddyshs usefulness in brief minutes only adds to the intrigue. For a team looking for better play deeper in the lineup, his situation has become one of the more interesting roster decisions on the board. [Read more 🡒]