The 2025-26 NHL regular season is one that New York Rangers fans will likely want to put in the rearview mirror.<\/p>\n
For the second consecutive year, the Blueshirts find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture, having become the first team in the Eastern Conference to be mathematically eliminated from contention.<\/p>\n
However, amidst the team\u2019s struggles and a disappointing 33-39-9 record heading into the season finale, one constant remains:<\/p>\n
Igor Shesterkin is still elite.<\/p>\n
While the roster around him underwent growing pains and coaching shifts, the 30-year-old netminder continued to prove why he is the backbone of the franchise.<\/p>\n
As the Rangers look toward a future led by emerging talents like Gabe Perreault, Willy Cuylle, and Adam Sykora, Shesterkin\u2019s performance provides the foundation for a potential quick turnaround.<\/p>\n
Analyzing Igor Shesterkin\u2019s 2025-26 NHL Stats<\/p>\n
In a season where the defense often left him exposed, Shesterkin\u2019s individual numbers remained remarkably high.<\/p>\n
Finishing the campaign with a 25-19-6 record across 51 starts, his win-loss column doesn\u2019t fully capture his impact on the ice.<\/p>\n
Shesterkin faced 1,425 shots this season, allowing just 126 goals.<\/p>\n
This resulted in a 2.50 Goals Against Average (GAA), ranking him seventh in the NHL.<\/p>\n
This mark is the third-best of his career, trailing only his 2021-22 Vezina-winning season and his 2022-23 All-Star campaign.<\/p>\n
Where Shesterkin Ranks Among Top NHL Goalies<\/p>\n
When looking at advanced analytics, Shesterkin\u2019s value becomes even more apparent.<\/p>\n
His .912 save percentage tied him for third in the league alongside Washington\u2019s Logan Thompson.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, his 23 goals saved above average (GSAA) ranked third in the NHL, proving that he was consistently bailing the Rangers out of high-danger situations.<\/p>\n
According to Hockey Reference, Shesterkin posted an 11.4 goalie point share, tying him with cross-town rival Ilya Sorokin of the Islanders for fifth in the league.<\/p>\n
These metrics confirm that while the Rangers\u2019 season was \u201clost\u201d in terms of the standings, their goaltending remains championship-caliber.<\/p>\n
The Future of New York Rangers Goaltending<\/p>\n
With the legendary Jonathan Quick heading into retirement after a stellar career, the Rangers\u2019 depth chart is shifting.<\/p>\n
While Dylan Garand is expected to step into the backup role, the \u201cShesty\u201d era is far from over.<\/p>\n
At 30 years old, Shesterkin is in his prime. For the Rangers to return to Stanley Cup contention in 2027, the front office must capitalize on these elite years.<\/p>\n
As long as Shesterkin is between the pipes, the Rangers have a \u201cpuncher\u2019s chance\u201d in any game\u2014now, they just need the offense and blue line to catch up to their superstar goalie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025-26 NHL regular season is one that New York Rangers fans will likely want to put in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5111],"tags":[5,2273,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-553914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-igor-shesterkin","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-rangers","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkrangers","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-rangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116415092699406772","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}