Rangers enter survival mode as Jonathan Quick and Spencer Martin take over for Igor Shesterkin

Now is the winter of the New York Rangers’ discontent.

The good vibes from last week’s Winter Classic win in Florida evaporated fast. Back indoors means back to reality for our precious, fragile Broadway Blueshirts.

Rangers hit with a pair of devastating injuries

On Tuesday, the Rangers shelved Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve and surprisingly
bumped Adam Fox to Long‑Term Injured Reserve—less than 24 hours after coughing up a 3–2 loss to the Utah Mammoth. Both are dealing with lower‑body injuries.

New York may have dodged a full‑blown catastrophe with Shesterkin, who crumpled on a non‑contact play Monday and needed help from a teammate and the trainer to get down the tunnel. At first glance, it looked season‑ending. Now it appears he needs further evaluation, and the early read is “week‑to‑week.” If the Rangers want to play it safe with their franchise goalie—and they absolutely should—my hunch is we don’t see him again until after the Olympic break on February 26.

If that timeline holds, the Rangers will need to survive 13 games without Igor. That stretch alone has the potential to drag this season into a pit of despair.

To patch the holes, the Rangers recalled Spencer Martin and Scott Morrow

So what does this all mean for our beloved Blueshirts? They’re going to have to dig deep and simplify their game if they want to survive yet another trial in this chaotic 2025–26 season. Let’s start in net.

No one is replacing Igor—full stop. But Mike Sullivan will have to ride a tandem of Jonathan Quick and Spencer Martin.

Quick has shown flashes of the future Hall of Famer he once was whenever the Rangers have needed him. He owns a 24‑13‑5 record with a .915 save percentage as a Ranger. There have already been two stretches where he stepped in for Igor and delivered at a level ranging from admirable to outright elite.

In 2023–24, Quick went on a 9‑0‑1 heater while Shesterkin was out. In 2024–25, he went 3‑6‑2 during another Shesterkin absence—numbers that don’t reflect how well he actually played. Combined, Quick is 12‑6‑3 when filling in for Igor. Not bad at all, but it’s tough to expect that again as he approaches his 40th birthday on January 21.

The schedule won’t do them any favors. The Rangers are entering one of the most condensed stretches of the season heading into the winter break, including two sets of back‑to‑backs. Spencer Martin will need to start at least four games.

Martin is no stranger to short‑burst heroics. When Vancouver turned to him early in the 2022–23 season after Thatcher Demko’s collapse, he went on a 6‑1‑1 run and earned the coaching staff’s trust.

So yes—there are reasons for cautious optimism. Plenty of NHL teams have succeeded this season using a 1‑2, running‑back‑by‑committee approach in net: Washington, Carolina, Minnesota. All of them are better than the Rangers right now, but the blueprint exists.

In my view, this stretch will come down to the skaters. They need to defend, support their goalies, and play connected hockey. As Quick said after Monday’s game, they need to have each other’s backs.

This will be Mike Sullivan’s biggest test of the season. He must get this team to buy into an all‑for‑one, one‑for‑all mentality. There’s no room for selfish hockey when your No. 1 defenseman and franchise goaltender are both out long‑term.

This Igor‑less stretch—however long it ends up being—will determine whether the Rangers stay in the playoff race.

Winter is here, and the Rangers need to defend the wall. Otherwise, they’re going to fall.