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Igor Shesterkin

New York Rangers To Place Adam Fox On LTIR, Igor Shesterkin On IR

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The New York Rangers will place defenseman Adam Fox on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), and place netminder Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve, according to Mollie Walker of The New York Post.

While those injured reserve placements have yet to be officially announced, the Rangers did foreshadow the moves by recalling veteran netminder Spencer Martin and defenseman Scott Morrow from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Rangers also reassigned forward Brett Berard back to the AHL.

The Rangers lost in overtime to the Utah Mammoth yesterday, and Shesterkin left that game with a non-contact lower-body injury. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported today that Shesterkin “avoided” the “worst-case scenario” with his injury, but is still being evaluated.

Any potential extended absence of Shesterkin would deal a massive, potentially fatal blow to the Rangers’ hopes of returning to the playoffs in 2025-26.

The 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner has started 34 games for New York this season, posting a .913 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against-average.

He’s widely considered to be among the league’s finest netminders, a status reflected by the eight-year, $11.5MM AAV contract extension he signed in December of 2024.

While the Rangers have a veteran backup in Jonathan Quick who has been stellar this season (.919 save percentage in 11 games), he hasn’t had to handle a significant workload since he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings. The three-time Stanley Cup champion made just 20 starts last season and 26 the year before. For as long as Shesterkin is out with this injury, Quick will now be counted on as the Rangers’ No. 1 goalie.

Supporting Quick in the crease is Martin, a 30-year-old veteran with 66 games of NHL experience. Martin was the No. 3 goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes last season but couldn’t find an NHL role for 2025-26 last summer, so he signed with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. Martin left CSKA and signed with the Rangers in November. He went 5-6-2 with a .905 save percentage in the KHL, and has a .903 save percentage in six games played for the Wolf Pack this season.

The Rangers could have also opted to recall 23-year-old Dylan Garand to the NHL to fill Shesterkin’s vacated roster spot, as the former CHL Goalie of the Year has been quite good in Hartford over the last few years and could be NHL-ready at this point. But seeing as Quick is likely to start most of the games in Shesterkin’s absence, it’s understandable that the Rangers would rather recall Martin, the veteran, and let Garand continue to get a steady diet of starts and develop at the AHL level.

While we don’t know how long Shesterkin is set to be out for, we do have a slightly more clear timeline regarding Fox. The 2020-21 Norris Trophy winner missed most of December with an upper-body injury, one that landed him on LTIR. He’ll now return to LTIR, this time with a lower-body injury, after just three games played. LTIR rules stipulate that Fox must now miss at least 10 games or 24 days of action. According to Walker’s report, Fox will be re-evaluated when he is eligible to be activated.

Replacing Fox on the Rangers’ roster is Morrow, who the team acquired this past summer as part of the K’Andre Miller trade. Morrow was ranked as the NHL’s No. 33 skater prospect by the team at Elite Prospects this past August, a billing he earned after scoring 39 points in 52 AHL games in his first full season playing pro hockey. The 23-year-old hasn’t been able to translate that level of production from the Hurricanes organization to New York, scoring just five points in 14 games in Hartford and three points in 16 games for the Rangers.

The Rangers at times gave Morrow a look quarterbacking their power play while Fox was injured, but he was unable to seize that role. With Fox now set to miss around a month or more, Morrow could get another look in that role.

The final player involved in transactions today is Berard. The 23-year-old has split time between Hartford and New York this season, skating in 20 games for the Wolf Pack (nine points scored) and 12 games for the Rangers (zero points). He’s a pending restricted free agent who was recalled at the start of 2026 and was dressed for the team’s Jan. 2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

He was a healthy scratch for yesterday’s loss to Utah. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson noted today that Berard’s reassignment leaves the Rangers short of spare forwards, which could suggest that one, or both, of injured forwards J.T. Miller and Noah Laba may be close to returning.

Photos courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin Leaves Game Due To Injury

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A potentially significant injury occured this evening, as New York Rangers star goaltender Igor Shesterkin left due to a lower body injury, and will not return, as announced by the team.

With around seven minutes remaining in the first of a scoreless game, Utah forward JJ Peterka lightly collided with Shesterkin in his crease in an innocuous play. The light impact sent the goaltender falling backward with his right pad planted, resulting in an awkward position and an apparent knee injury, which has many fearing the worst. 

The 30-year-old is in year one of his eight year extension worth $11.5MM per season, solidifying himself among the league’s very best. In a time where scoring rates have climbed, Shesterkin holds elite statistics, with a .912 save percentage this season and a 2.47 goals-against-average to boot. 

Thankfully, New York is tremendously deep in net, with ageless wonder Jonathan Quick as backup, who subsequently entered the game tonight along with his .924 save percentage. The Rangers also have Dylan Garand in the AHL, a well regarded prospect patiently awaiting his NHL debut, now in his fourth full season pro. However, Shesterkin is desperately needed if New York will be able to climb the ranks in the grueling Metropolitan Division and vie for a fourth straight playoff appearance.

After their exciting Winter Classic victory in Florida, the Rangers were hoping to turn the corner, but just five days into the New Year, they find themselves facing another massive challenge, if the superstar netminder will miss extended time.

New York Rangers Expected To Have Busy Offseason

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According to Arthur Staple of The Athletic, the New York Rangers are expected to be one of the busier teams this offseason, along with the Buffalo Sabres, Seattle Kraken, and Utah Mammoth.

That wasn’t the only assertion Staple made in his report. He indicated that General Manager Chris Drury will look to shake up the roster and lists Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, and Artemi Panarin as the only true untouchables on the roster.

The news comes with little surprise given that the trio was inarguably the top three performers on a disappointing Rangers team this past season. Still, outside of those three, it would make little sense for New York to part ways with the likes of J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, or Gabriel Perreault, either, for various reasons.

Additionally, moving on from higher-priced players such as Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière could prove difficult this offseason, given the Rangers would undoubtedly be selling low on either piece. However, if New York frees up some cap space, Staple believes they already have a target in place.

Vladislav Gavrikov, who has spent the last two-and-a-half years with the Los Angeles Kings, would immediately become an interest for the Rangers with more cap flexibility. Gavrikov has already indicated he’d like to sign a longer-term extension with Los Angeles, but the new regime led by Ken Holland could have different ideas.

The Russian defensive defenseman would immediately become one of the top options on the blue line in a thin free agent class. Gavrikov averaged above a 50.0% mark in CorsiFor% at even strength during this time with the Kings, and an on-ice save percentage at even strength of 91.6%.

Given that the Rangers finished 27th in the league in shots against and 25th in high-danger scoring chances against during the 2024-25 season, Gavrikov would help alleviate many of their issues. Still, assuming Gavrikov signs around the projected mark between $6.5MM and $7.5MM, the Rangers would have difficulty making that work at the present with only $8.4MM in cap space heading into the offseason.

Igor Shesterkin Expected To Return, Rangers Assign Two To AHL

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The New York Rangers will be returning from the 4-Nations Face-Off break with good news. Starter Igor Shesterkin has shared he expects to be healthy before Saturday’s game against Buffalo per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. The Rangers made the move to back his claim by reassigning temporary backup goaltender Dylan Garand. New York has also assigned defenseman Zachary Jones to the minors on a conditioning loan. Matthew Robertson has been recalled in his place.

Shesterkin will return from an upper-body injury sustained in New York’s February 7th loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played through the entirety of that matchup but received a designation of out one-to-two weeks before the Rangers visited Columbus the next day – in what was their last game before the break. Shesterkin was in the midst of a cold spell leading up to his injury, posting a 1-4 record and .835 save percentage in his last five games. The performance spurred what was otherwise a great January for the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner. He recorded a 6-0-1 record and .948 save percentage in his first seven games of the month, helping the Rangers find solid footing in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race. The Rangers are still three points outside of playoff standing, putting the pressure on Shesterkin to bounce back to form after an extended break.

Garand filled in as the backup in Shesterkin’s lone absence. The 22-year-old has been one of the AHL’s best young netminders this year – ranked second in save percentage (.914) and third in wins (13) among U23 goalies with at least 20 games. It’s been a big step up for Garand – who claimed the AHL starting role two seasons ago but hasn’t yet posted a year-long save percentage above .900.

Jones will join Garand in the move to the AHL looking to get back to match shape. He spent 18 games out of the lineup through December and January, with a pair of scoreless spot starts in February marking his first games since the holiday break. Jones has served as New York’s seventh defenseman for the entire season – a role that’s led him to eight points, 10 penalty minutes, and a plus-two in 28 games. New York will turn towards Robertson to fill that during Jones’ temporary assignment. Robertson has 18 points and 47 penalty minutes in 47 AHL games this season and would make his NHL debut should he find a way into the Rangers lineup.

Rangers Recall Dylan Garand, Igor Shesterkin Out With Upper-Body Injury

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If there was ever going to be an injury to a starting netminder, it arguably happened at the best possible time for the New York Rangers. Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported that Igor Shesterkin is expected to miss the next week or two with an upper-body injury suffered in last night’s contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

According to a team announcement, New York has recalled netminder Dylan Garand from the Hartford Wolf Pack, their AHL affiliate. Given that the Rangers had one open roster spot remaining, they didn’t need to make a corresponding transaction or place Shesterkin on injured reserve. 

Aside from a game this evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Rangers don’t play again until February 22nd due to the 4 Nations Face-Off. The two-week break should give Shesterkin ample time to recover potentially only missing tonight’s game.

The upper-body injury reportedly relates to a scramble in front of Shesterkin during the second period of last night’s game. He tested his right wrist for flexibility but remained in the crease throughout the game, ultimately suffering another loss this season.

Those losses have recently become commonplace for Shesterkin. The 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner is 1-4-0 in his last five starts with a .835 save percentage. Given that he hasn’t had more than two games in a row with a save percentage lower than .900, it’s his worst stretch of the season.

New York is likely hoping the 4 Nations Face-Off break will give Shesterkin the time he needs to fully recover and get his mind right for the remaining 27 games of the regular season. The Rangers’ success this season has typically started and ended with their goaltending.

Garand has received his second call-up of the 2024-25 season, although he has yet to debut in the NHL. The 22-year-old, a product of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers program, is having the best professional season of his brief career. Garand has managed a 12-7-4 record in 23 games with a .913 SV% and 2.68 goals-against average including three shutouts this season.

Rangers To Activate Igor Shesterkin From Injured Reserve

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11:03 a.m.: Domingue has been assigned to Hartford as expected, per a team announcement.

9:55 a.m.: The Rangers will activate star netminder Igor Shesterkin from injured reserve ahead of Thursday’s game against the Devils, head coach Peter Laviolette told Peter Baugh of The Athletic.

Shesterkin, 29, will start for the first time since Dec. 30 after missing over a week with an upper-body injury. The Blueshirts don’t have an open roster spot, so they’ll likely return No. 3 goalie Louis Domingue to AHL Hartford today after recalling him on New Year’s Eve in Shesterkin’s absence.

The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner struggled in his last two starts before his injury. He allowed nine goals on 38 shots (.763 SV%) in back-to-back losses against the Lightning and Panthers, including being pulled in the second period against Tampa after allowing five goals on 13 shots.

Shesterkin had allowed just five goals on 106 shots in his three prior starts, further evidence of what’s been a streaky 2024-25 campaign for the all-world netminder. On the whole, he’s tracking for the worst campaign of his six-year career with a .906 SV%, 3.10 GAA, 11-15-1 record, and one shutout in 27 starts.

Quite a bit of his struggles can be attributed to the team in front of him, though. He’s still managed to save 9.5 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck, good for 11th in the league. On a per-hour basis, he’s saving more goals above expected than his 2020-21 and 2023-24 seasons in which he had save percentages of .916 and .912.

He’s still shown better throughout his career, namely his sparkling .935 SV% in 53 games in 2021-22. After signing him to a record-breaking eight-year, $92MM extension last month, the Rangers are hoping he’s closer to that form down the stretch than to the numbers he’s put up over the past few months.

The Rangers went 2-1-1 in Shesterkin’s four-game absence. Domingue stopped 25 of 27 shots in a 6-2 win over the Blackhawks on Sunday, the lone appearance of his call-up. Veteran Jonathan Quick started the other three, posting a .879 SV%.

The 32-year-old Domingue will presumably return to Hartford, where he’s struggled to the tune of a .888 SV%, 3.64 GAA, and a 4-9-2 record through 14 games. The veteran has lost his grip on the minor-league starting job to prospect Dylan Garand, who’s begging for an NHL promotion after logging a .929 SV% through his first 16 outings this season.

Rangers To Place Igor Shesterkin On IR, Recall Louis Domingue

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The New York Rangers will place franchise goaltender Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. To fill his role, New York has also recalled goaltender Louis Domingue from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. No details of Shesterkin’s injury or timeline have been released. This IR placement will force him out of New York’s next three games, at least. Shesterkin played through the entirety of New York’s December 30th loss to the Florida Panthers, allowing four goals on 25 shots.

Losing Shesterkin for any duration is hard news to bear, especially for a Rangers club that’s gone 3-10-0 in the month of December. That’s in part thanks to Shesterkin slightly caving in – posting a .891 save percentage in 10 games this month, fourth-lowest among starting goaltenders. Backup Jonathan Quick didn’t perform much better, with a .847 Sv% through three appearances. The pair have totaled a more admirable .906 and .907 save percentage over the course of the season, though limiting opponent chances remains a major weakness for New York.

The Rangers will turn towards 12-year-pro Domingue to back up Quick in the short-term. Domingue has split AHL starts with top prospect Dylan Garand, recording a measly 4-9-1 record and .888 Sv% in 14 appearances. This is the first call-up of his season, and gives Domingue a chance to play in just his second game as a Ranger, after he recorded a 25-win for the team last season. He’s a veteran of eight NHL seasons, totaling a 60-60-10 record and .905 Sv% across 143 career games.

Rangers Sign Igor Shesterkin To Eight-Year Extension

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Saturday: The Rangers officially announced that they’ve signed Shesterkin to an eight-year extension.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds that the deal contains a full no-move clause and $85MM of the contract will be paid in the form of signing bonuses.

Friday: The New York Rangers have used their new-found cap space relatively quickly. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the Rangers have signed goaltender Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year extension paying the netminder between $11.5MM and $12MM a year. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed it will be an eight-year, $92MM extension for Shesterkin.

Once the deal is finalized it will usurp Carey Price’s record-breaking eight-year, $84MM extension with the Montreal Canadiens by $8MM. Shesterkin and his camp have been adamant about setting the market for goaltenders and he appears to have done just that.

New York will get Shesterkin back on a cheaper deal than Price from a certain point of view. Price’s contract accounted for 13.2% of the cap when it took effect starting in the 2018-19 season. Shesterkin’s contract, assuming the reports are accurate on an $11.5MM salary, will only account for 12.4% of the cap should it rise to the reported $92.5MM for the 2025-26 season.

The Moscow, Russia native landed his desired salary despite having a depressed season compared to the rest of his career. He’s produced an 8-9-1 record in 18 starts for the Rangers with a .908 save percentage and a 3.05 goals-against average.

It’s difficult to disagree with the price point. He’s arguably been one of the league’s top netminders since the 2020-21 season and the Rangers are now rewarding him for his efforts. He took over as the Rangers starting goaltender in the 2021-22 season and the team has failed to miss the playoffs since.

His career records speak for themselves. Shesterkin boasts a career winning percentage of 63.2%, a .920 SV%, and a 2.48 GAA over 226 career starts. The only goalie to post even similar numbers to Shesterkin through their first six seasons is fellow top-netminder Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.

New York’s competitive window begins and ends between the pipes with Shesterkin. He’s produced tremendous value for the Rangers over the last six campaigns and will now continue to do so for the next eight beyond this season. The eight-year extension will take Shesterkin to the 2032-33 NHL season when he will be 38 years old.

If today is any indication, the Rangers will be a very active team up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline. General manager Chris Drury will likely pivot toward extending his young crop of expiring talent including Kaapo Kakko, K’Andre Miller, and William Cuylle over the next few weeks so the pieces are in place for the team’s future.

Still, Drury and the Rangers are focused on moving out high-priced veteran talent such as Chris Kreider to create serious change toward the top of the lineup. New York has failed to make it beyond the Eastern Conference Final since the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs despite consistently being one of the better teams throughout the regular season. Drury has been aggressive in his pursuit of re-tooling the roster and today’s moves may only be the beginning.

Photo courtesy of USA Sports images. 

How Do Recent Extensions Impact Igor Shesterkin’s Market?

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Since October 1st, Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman, Dallas Stars’ Jake Oettinger, Ottawa Senators’ Linus Ullmark, and Seattle Kraken’s Joey Daccord have all signed sizeable multi-year contracts with their respective teams. The ’white whale’ of them all, Igor Shesterkin, is looking to become the highest-paid goaltender of all time and it will be interesting to see the impacts of the recent deals on his market.

Shesterkin recently rejected an eight-year, $88MM contract offer from the New York Rangers and is reportedly seeking a higher salary than teammate Artemi Panarin’s $11.643MM AAV. It’s clear that he’s seeking a $96MM deal but could go as low as $94MM just to ensure he becomes the highest-paid member of the organization.

The recent comparables to Shesterkin are that of Swayman, Oettinger, and Ullmark’s contracts although many would argue he is in a league of his own. Each netminder signed for an $8.25MM salary with the first two garnering max term. There is a very reasonable argument that Shesterkin is better than each netminder listed but is he that much better to justify a nearly 50% raise on some of the better goaltenders in the league?

An eight-year contract for Shesterkin would take him to his age-37 season while the contracts given to Swayman and Oettinger will take them to 33 and 34, respectively. Shesterkin debuted in the 2019-20 season while Oettinger and Swayman debuted a year later. He leads the trio in wins, save percentage, and hardware while Swayman holds the lead in goals-against average.

He’s failed to backstop the Rangers to a Stanley Cup Final to this point but he has made two Conference Final appearances while the combination of Swayman and Oettinger have only reached one. His case for being the best goaltender in the game is a solid one but it’s going to be difficult for the Rangers to give him a $12MM salary despite the accomplishments. New York’s contention window begins and ends with Shesterkin between the pipes but they’ll still need financial flexibility to put complimentary pieces around him.

Shesterkin’s main argument, especially concerning Oettinger, is the ever-growing issue of income tax-free states. Doing some low-stakes math, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period asserted earlier that Oettinger’s take-home pay in Dallas, TX would be approximately $5.22MM after taxes while a $12MM salary for Shesterkin in New York City, NY would net him around $5.29MM. Factoring in the cost of living in New York compared to Dallas one could reasonably ascertain Shesterkin’s justification for his asking price.

At the end of the day, because Shesterkin is such a needle-mover between the pipes, one team will likely step up and give him $12MM a year on a max-term contract. There are few present concerns that the contract won’t be with the Rangers but the recent goaltender contracts may drive a further wedge between the two parties.

East Notes: Liljegren, Shesterkin, Volokhin, Brandsegg-Nygard

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While there has been some trade speculation surrounding Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that there is no imminent move on the horizon.  Toronto is currently carrying eight blueliners while also having offseason additions Jani Hakanpaa and Dakota Mermis on LTIR so their depth is in decent shape, something Dreger notes Toronto likes.  However, while having strong depth is one thing, having a healthy scratch making $3MM through next season isn’t ideal.  Still just 25, Liljegren has nearly 200 career NHL regular season games under his belt and is coming off a season that saw him collect 23 points in 55 games while logging nearly 20 minutes a night.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some trade interest in him in the coming weeks, especially if a team gets hit with some injuries on the back end.  If not, they may still need to make a move in a few weeks as some of their injured players potentially return.

More from the Atlantic:

  • On the heels of Igor Shesterkin declining an eight-year, $88MM extension offer from the Rangers, Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests that the goaltender is asking for $12MM per season. Recognizing the team might not go that high, the 28-year-old wants to be the highest-paid player on the team which means he might decline anything below the $11.643MM AAV that Artemi Panarin has on his deal.  Shesterkin has a career 2.42 GAA and a .921 SV% in 214 games at the NHL level and will soon be the highest-paid goalie in league history with the offer he declined already coming in higher than Carey Price’s $10.5MM per season.
  • Canadiens goaltending prospect Yevgeni Volokhin has been loaned to HK Sochi, per an announcement from the KHL club. SKA St. Petersburg acquired his rights earlier this week but will let the 19-year-old get his feet wet at the top Russian level elsewhere for the time being.  Montreal drafted Volokhin in the fifth round in 2023, going 144th overall.  He was one of the top netminders at their junior level last season, posting a 1.57 GAA with a .938 SV% in 31 games with Mamonty Yugry and has similar numbers (1.95 and .931 respectively) in eight appearances at the MHL level this year.
  • The Red Wings wanted to assign prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard to AHL Grand Rapids but the first rounder and his camp insisted on him being assigned back to Sweden, relays Norren’s Robin Lindgren (Twitter link). The 19-year-old spent last season with Mora in the second-tier Allsvenskan level where he had 18 points in 41 games but his rights are now held by SHL Skelleftea.  It’s believed that Brandsegg-Nygard feels that playing at the top level in Sweden will be better for his development than suiting up for the Griffins in the minors.

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