One by one at MSG Training Center on Monday, the Rangers who were at the center of the past two seasons tried to explain what happened from the first to the second that led to the dismissal of their head coach and associate coach.
They attempted to identify what was to blame before dispersing for a playoff-less summer.
“In my mind, something broke during the season, and [went] the other way,” Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin said. “We couldn’t handle it. It was our job to try to find a way to get back.”
The star Russian netminder, who the organization committed to for the next eight years at $92 million, couldn’t say exactly what broke.
Maybe they lost some luck, he said, or weren’t playing with as much confidence as they did last season.
Shesterkin noted that even when the Blueshirts fell behind by three last season, they knew they could come back.
He said he didn’t feel that this season.
Capping the season with his sixth shutout in a 4-0 win over the Lightning, Shesterkin has 21 over the course of his career and is tied with Lorne Chabot for eighth place on the franchise’s all-time list.
Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers looks on following a 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on April 17, 2025.
The 29-year-old finished with a 27-29-5 record with a career-high goals-against average of 2.89 and a career-low save percentage of .905.
Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers makes a save against the New York Islanders during the third period at UBS Arena on April 10.
“I look at this team on paper and it’d be crazy not to think that [this team should be in the playoffs], especially starting with the goalie,” defenseman Calvin de Haan said of Shesterkin. “He’s probably the best player on the team. F–k, he’s good. I think we pissed away good goaltending [this season], which is not good.
“That’s the most important position and if that starts going to the wayside, it’s not good.”
