Expectations for the 2020-2021 New York Rangers: Part 1 Goaltenders

The torch must always be passed

In their recent history, the New York Rangers have not gone more than a few seasons without a marquee name guarding the crease. in the 1970’s it was Ed Giacomin who gave way to John Davidson. In the 1980’s John Vanbiesbrouck led to Mike Richter who minded the net into the new century. Lastly the King, Henrik Lundqvist tended the goal for the duration of the cap era.

With the final year of Lundqvist’s contract bought out, the reins have been officially laid down. Picking up those reins, to be the backbone of the Rangers future are two young and promising keepers. What we expect of them, versus what they can produce will go a long way to building their own legend.

#31 – Igor Shesterkin

Igor Shesterkin has been the heir apparent to the Rangers net for several seasons. His numbers throughout his KHL career have been nothing short of impressive. Coming to North America last season, he dominated the AHL before being called up in January. Shesterkin would only appear only in 12 regular season games, in which he impressed posting a 10-2-0 record with a .932 save percentage (sv%) and a 2.52 goals goals against average (GAA). He would have certainly played in more games, but Between the late call-up, an injury suffered in a car accident and the suspension of the season, his game time action was limited.

It is a small sample size to judge from, but with his previous pedigree, expectations for Shesterkin’s first full season as starter for the New York Rangers are high. It is wholly unrealistic to expect that he, or any goaltender, will hold a .930 sv% plus for a season. In the past 30 years, 22 goaltenders have reached that feat having played in at least 30 games. Of these 22 goaltenders, only four have done it multiple times. So while not impossible, it generally marks the player’s career year.

All said, as he has done in the KHL, the AHL and so far in the NHL, expectations are not unrealistic to believe that Shesterkin will put up elite status statistics. Over a shorter season and with an improved defense, Shesterkin should record a .920 sv% or higher with a GAA of lower then 2.50. In essence, Rangers fans will continue to be blessed with the superb level of netminding they have been accustomed throughout the cap era.

#40 – Alexandar Georgiev

Alexandar Georgiev was an undrafted free agent signee for the New York Rangers. He was signed to be a depth goalie, destined to play with the Hartford Wolf Pack. However, when Ondrej Pavelec was injured, Georgiev got his shot and was promoted to NHL back-up. He has not looked back. Last season he took another step forward and became a tandem partner with Lundqvist. He would gain starter status late in the season when newly called up Igor Shesterkin went down with injury.

In his time with the Rangers Georgiev has played well and has shown himself to be competent back-up and potential starting goaltender. He was rewarded with a new two year contract this off season worth $2.45 million per year. He has shown the ability, mostly in short spurts, to be able to steal games, but has also been inconsistent, specifically on short rest.

All things being equal, Georgiev’s career averages of a .913 sv% and a 3.00 GAA paint a pretty clear reflection of what we should expect of him. However, things are not equal. The hiring of Jacques Martin should immediately improve the Rangers defense, especially on High Danger (HD) shots, a weakness in Georgiev’s game last season. Additionally, a shorter season should give more credence to the goaltenders excellence in short spurts.

in all, expectations for Georgiev should be slightly better than his career averages. It should be no surprise to see him register season numbers that are higher than a .915 sv% and lower than a  2.75 GAA. While an improvement, it should also be expected that these numbers will be recorded in roughly 15-20 games played during the shortened season, as Georgiev will again be the Rangers back-up.

Moving into the 2020-21 season and beyond, the New York Rangers will continue with their 50 plus year tradition of being strong in net.

In the next part of our series, we will look at the players who patrol the blue line. The Defense.