The Rangers’ offseason shuffle has created one real question in goal, and it circles right back to Igor Shesterkin.
On the surface, New York seemed to make sensible moves. The one that turned heads was the addition of Joonas Korpisalo, because the backup job looked settled with Dylan Garand. Instead, that spot is now up for grabs, and the competition between Garand and Korpisalo will play out in training camp and the four preseason games.
That decision belongs to head coach Mike Sullivan, who will have to choose between the younger Garand and the NHL veteran Korpisalo. But no matter who wins the backup role, Shesterkin remains the center of the whole conversation.
Officially, he is not going anywhere. This is still no. 31’s team.
What changes is the pressure around him. For the first time in his Rangers tenure, there is at least some real competition behind him, and that matters. Korpisalo had solid moments with Boston, while Garand is pushing to be the next option in line.
Shesterkin still has to be better than both of them, because that is the standard that comes with his role. The good news for him is that a stronger defensive setup in front of him could make life a little more manageable.
Even in what was one of the worst seasons of his career, Shesterkin was still better than most goaltenders in the league. The problem was everything around him. The defense last season was hurt, stagnant, or lackluster for most of the year, and Shesterkin also missed an extended stretch because of injury.
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That is why the blue line got so much attention this summer, with New York adding Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson to give Fox more support and help stabilize the defense corps. The idea is obvious enough: if the Rangers can keep Fox on the ice and reduce the strain on him, they give themselves a much better chance to make this season look a lot less fragile than the last one did. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Fans Should Be Worried About Where NHL Stars Are Headed
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For Rangers fans, the concern is obvious because the leagues biggest names may be reaching their next contracts before they ever hit the open market. Artemi Panarin came up as a reminder of how these situations can unfold, with the real leverage often going to the team willing to make the extension part of the deal. If that keeps becoming the norm, the familiar summer chase for elite free agents could be giving way to something much less dramatic and much harder to win. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Offseason Optimism May Be Hiding A Bigger Problem
The Rangers have spent the summer trying to look more stable than they did a year ago, and in a lot of ways the early returns under Chris Drury point in that direction. The roster is better balanced, the sense around the group is healthier than it was during the worst stretches of the previous season, and the club has moved itself out of the chaos that once defined too many conversations about the team.
Still, the bigger question is whether this is real progress or just the calm before another impatient swing at the problem. New York remains in a retooling phase, and without a true top-end forward to tilt games, the margin for error is thin. If the leadership mix does not settle cleanly and Drury starts chasing shortcuts, the Rangers could end up undoing some of the steadiness they have built. [Read more 🡒]