Do the New York Rangers have a goalie battle?
There was a train of thought that Jonathan Quick might have retired at the end of last season. It would have been understandable. Seemingly at the end of his usefulness as a starting goalie, what better way to go out than as the sage veteran backup on a Stanley Cup winner, Quick’s 3rd time holding the chalice aloft.
Now, after starting and winning three games on the bounce on each side of the All-Star break, he might just be the first-choice goalie for the club he supported as a boy.
Quick’s move to the New York Rangers over the season break was viewed primarily as a feel-good story as the boyhood Blueshirt got to tick the final box of a sure-fire 1st ballot Hall of Fame career. His ability to make an impact on the ice was questioned, though. A 2022 Indian Summer aside, the recently turned 38-year-old hasn’t been a genuine top-echelon goalie since the 2018 campaign. This season, Quick’s first as a full-time backup in his professional career has seen the veteran play some sparkling hockey.
The raw numbers tell a tale: his 2.27 Goals Against Average is his best mark since 2014; his .919 save percentage best since 2018 and an even eight Goals Saved Above Average is his best since his ridiculous 2012 season. Amongst goalies with at least 10 starts this season, Quick ranks 6th in the league in GAA, 9th in save percentage, and 11th in GSAA. By any measure, these are fantastic numbers.
With Quick between the pipes, the Rangers sport 12 wins and a pair of overtime losses from 18 starts. Again, stellar. Quick stepped in seamlessly early in the season when Igor Shesterkin was out with injury for around a fortnight and hasn’t missed a beat since. By contrast, the 28-year-old Shesterkin has been maddeningly inconsistent throughout the campaign. Overall, he is posting worrying numbers: 2.86 GAA, .899 SV%, and -4.5 GSAA are all by a long way his career worst. Yet, when Shesterkin is at his best, the Rangers look formidable. When he saves over 90 percent of the shots he faces, New York is a perfect 18 from 18. When he posts a sub .900 SV%, the Rangers drop to 1-12-1, a sub-Blackhawks level of putrid. Yes, there have been times when the work put in ahead of Shesterkin hasn’t been optimal, but the same has been true of Quick and the veteran has rescued his defense far more often than Shesterkin has this campaign.
From a technical standpoint, Shesterkin’s glove hand seems considerably slower than in previous years. I’ve lost count of the number of times that he’s beaten to his left by an unscreened shot that is above pad level. There have also been a number of poor angle goals conceded by Shesterkin, where he just doesn’t seem to move quickly enough into position or on occasion concedes his position too quickly, opening up a gap that is ultimately exploited.
This reminds me of another goalie whose career intertwined with the Rangers in Kirk McLean. A star for Vancouver in the early 90s, he was the man in net when the Canucks made their run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1994, which I’m sure Blueshirt fans will recall fondly. A season or so after that run, shooters discovered McLean’s weakness and it was a doozy: waist-high shots on the blocker side. He was never the same again. By 1998, aged only 31, he was consigned to the backup role, bouncing around the league before, funnily enough, finishing his career as a Ranger in 2001. Given the commitment made to him, New York will be hoping that Shesterkin’s glove hand isn’t the beginning of a similar tale.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette is adamant that Shesterkin is still the #1 option, telling reporters after the Rangers’ most recent game against Tampa Bay that he is ‘still our guy’ and that the plan was to have Quick start games either side of the All-Star break. Interestingly, Laviolette also said that this is a chance for ‘us to work with him’ which is the closest he’ll likely come to admitting that Shesterkin’s poor play is a problem. Benoit Allaire is generally considered one of the very best Goaltender Whisperers in the hockey world. He’ll have his mettle tested getting Shesterkin back on track.
But why is Shesterkin struggling? It’s a borderline unanswerable question, but I do have some thoughts. Could it be that having an undisputed Hall of Famer behind him has unsettled Shesterkin mentally? When you’re the clear #1 you are afforded the ability to focus on what is in front of you, knowing that you will be given the opportunity to rebound from a poor goal, a rough game, or even a bad week. With another genuine starting option sitting on the bench, a goalie can sometimes have a peek over their shoulder, taking their proverbial eye off the puck. It’s often stated that competition for places can ONLY be a good thing. Yes, it’s always good to have options but a defined pecking order is often just as important. For every Jeremy Swayman/Linus Ullmark successful platoon, there are a dozen examples of goalie battles torpedoing the confidence and/or form of one or both netminders.
Another, undoubtedly more controversial take, is that Shesterkin simply isn’t as good as we all thought. I had him ranked 3rd in my pre-season goalie ladder, based on a very good 2023 and an all-timer of a campaign in 2022 when Shesterkin picked up the Vezina. Whilst his numbers this season are an outlier, it looks increasingly certain that his 2022 numbers are, as well. If Shesterkin is simply a very good goalie, rather than an All-World backstop, then the Rangers’ hopes of a drought-breaking cup win are suddenly very precarious.
All this leads to the question: is Jonathan Quick the Rangers best option going forward?
If Shesterkin does not (or cannot) regain some form then he may well be, but there are dangers to going down that path. Quick is 38 years old and in his 16th season. It’s plausible that his return to peak form is a direct result of playing less hockey, saving his aging bones from the rigours of playing more often than not. There is also less pressure when playing as the backup goalie: if you win that’s great and if you lose, well, you’re only the 2nd option so what should we have expected? Does moving into a 1st choice role grind Quick down physically? Does it remove that freedom to just…play?
Quick is undoubtedly a quality and pedigreed option for the Rangers, should Laviolette and his brain trust choose to go down that path. However, you can’t help but feel that the Rangers most likely path to raising the Stanley Cup will come with 31 between the pipes as 32 cheers him on.
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