Igor Shesterkin Going Up, Down Or Sideways?

Mike Sullivan has a lot to think about; the question is whether he's focusing on the most important challenge – Igor Shesterkin. 

As Arthur (The Athletic) Staple's extensive interview with nine prominent hockey people pointed out, virtually everyone figured that the least of the Blueshirts worries going forward was Igor Shesterkin. 

That would have been a fair assumption in October 2024 but it wasn't  in the final half of the season after the Staples' story ran. Instead, Iggy went backward.

A veteran writer with no ties whatsoever to the Rangers put it bluntly and objectively this way: 

"Shesterkin has become the Rangers' biggest problem. And he'll regress further now that he has his big money contract," the reporter declares.

It was all there to see in the second half of the season when the Rangers seemed capable of making a successful playoff run. But Igor got in the way.

Time and again when the club needed him to steal a game, he turned Comrade Ordinary.

"There was – and is – something off with him," the reporter continued, "and there's no accountability when they (he)  lose. And he never seems happy when they win. He says some weird stuff when he decides to talk."

Shesterkin will be Sullivan's workhorse next season. He has to be with the dough he's making. But, if he's going to be the Igor of the Rangers last 40 games, there's gonna be trouble in River City, even Hoboken.

However,  there's so much else going on in the hockey lives of Chris Drury and his new coach that the Shesterkin situation is not on anyone's minds – but The Maven's.

Then again, come 2025-26, it could – mind you, COULD – become front and center the biggest Blueshirt issue of all.

Until Iggy's performance comes close to matching his contract, you may be seeing more of Jonathan Quick than ever before!