Throughout the entirety of the 2024-25 season, there was a lot of noise surrounding Igor Shesterkin, but he remained quiet.
He entered the season without a contract extension, as speculation about his future with the New York Rangers and contract status began to dominate headlines.
Shesterkin refused to talk about it though, making it hard to truly read his emotions.
“I don’t read and I try to not hear about that,” Shesterkin said about all of the outside noise during the season. “I just focus on my game, on my practice and on my family. That’s it.”
In December, Shesterkin signed an eight-year, $92 million contract extension with the Rangers, which should have simmered down all of the outside noise.
However, the Rangers began to struggle, and the team faced intense scrutiny for their play, including Shesterkin who signed the richest contract for a goaltender in NHL history.
It was a long and grueling year for both the Rangers and Shesterkin.
During his exit interview, Shesterkin was as honest and candid as we’ve ever seen him. He divulged that the Rangers were a broken team.
“In my mind, something broke during the season and (went) the other way,” Shesterkin said. “We couldn't handle it.
“Probably not too much confidence. If we can look on the last season before when we won (the) President’s Trophy, if we’re down 3-0 we still know we get back but during the season I didn’t feel that sometimes.”
This kind of honesty and openness from the 29-year-old goalie is a good thing for the Rangers. Shesterkin is the face of the franchise, so his comments carry a significant amount of weight.
He’s one of the best players in the NHL, but the next step for Shesterkin is to blossom into a leader, and his exit interview was a positive first step.
There’s a lot of pressure on Shesterkin going into the 2025-26 campaign.
In order for the Rangers to succeed and bounce back into Stanley Cup contention, it’s all on Shesterkin’s shoulders to propel them to those levels and prove he’s the best goalie in the world.
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