With New York Rangers first round pick Vitali Kravtsov packing his bags and returning to Russia this season, it raises the specter of the same fate befalling another Ranger prospect, goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Igor Shesterkin is another Rangers prospect with a European Assignment Clause. After a successful career in the KHL, Shesterkin moved over to North America and is playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack. Considering the circumstances, it would have been reasonable to see Shesterkin returning to Russia before Kravtsov and it’s still a possiblity.
Shesterkin signed a two-year Entry Level contract. Although the salary is the standard $925k, it is bolstered by $2.85 million in performance bonuses. As long as he is in the AHL, he will be earning a $70,000 salary per the CBA. It’s possible, but unlikely that any of the performance bonus money will be paid out for accomplishments in the minor leagues.
His season so far
The AHL season has taken a long time to get started, especially for the Wolf Pack. In 22 days, they have played only seven games. All seven have come in sets of back-to-back games and the Hartford coaching staff is alternating between Shesterkin and fellow rookie Adam Huska. That means four starts for Shesterkin.
Shesterkin started the first game of the season, a 5-3 win over the Charlotte Checkers. He stopped 26 of 29 shots with one of the Charlotte goals coming on the power play.
One week later, he started against the Springfield Thunderbirds and allowed only one goal as Hartford won 3-1. Shesterkin had 17 saves.
His start last weekend was his best, as he beat the Thunderbirds fpr the second time in a week. He made 36 saves as the Wolf Pack prevailed 1-0 and he was named the number one star of the game.
Friday night Shesterkin was in net as the Wolf Pack defeated the Laval Rocket in overtime, 2-1. The only goal he allowed was on the power play.
Of all AHL goalies who have appeared in three games or more, Shesterkin has a 4-0 record amd leads the league with 1.23 goals against average and a .951 save percentage. He has allowed five goals in five games, with only three at even strength.
These numbers are in line with his career in the KHL. Here is his record the last three years:
Season W-L-T GAA SV PCT
2016-17 27-4-6 1.64 0.937
2017-18 20-4-4 1.69 0.933
2018-19 24-4-0 1.11 0.953
Pretty spectacular numbers and he is doing the same in the American Hockey League, albeit with a very small sample size of four games. At any rate, Shesterkin’s excellent start presents a challenge for Jeff Gorton and John Davidson and reasons for Ranger fans to be concerned.