Igor Shesterkin Suffers Apparent Leg Injury

Igor Shesterkin and the Rangers had gotten off to a nice start to their season.  The veteran had won three of his first four starts while the team entered play tonight atop the Eastern Conference.  He had even scored his first career goal.

Unfortunately, the good news stops there.  On top of losing tonight’s game to Washington, the veteran netminder departed the game with a lower-body injury, per a team announcement (Twitter link).

Near the midway point of the second period, Shesterkin came out to challenge Pierre-Luc Dubois on a shot, going well past his crease in the process.  He then had to turn around to scramble to get back in the net.  He did so, but his right skate hit the post but his body’s momentum kept going, even with the net staying on its moorings, resulting in his leg recoiling.  The end result was Shesterkin being in clear discomfort with play whistled down quickly.

After remaining down and being attended to by New York’s trainer, Shesterkin was helped off the ice by teammates without putting any weight on his right leg.  He also had to be helped to walk to the locker room while again not putting any weight on that leg.

Postgame, head coach Mike Sullivan noted to reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link) that there was no immediate update on Shesterkin’s prognosis.

Any sort of extended absence on its own would be a massive blow for the Rangers.  But it should also be noted that veteran backup Joonas Korpisalo is already on injured reserve and is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.  That allowed Dylan Garand to return to the active roster after he somewhat surprisingly made it through waivers unclaimed which is certainly good fortune for the Rangers given the current circumstances.

Assuming that Shesterkin is unavailable for Sunday’s game against Vancouver, a recall will be needed from AHL Hartford.  Spencer Martin, who has some NHL experience, would be the logical choice.  However, he’s also dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.  The Rangers only have one other goalie on an NHL contract, that being Callum Tung.  The 22-year-old is in the second season of his entry-level deal and split last season between Hartford and ECHL Bloomington.

Depending on the severity of Shesterkin’s injury which probably won’t be known for a day or two, the Rangers could have to look outside the organization for some goaltending depth.  They could look to free agency where James Reimer, Petr Mrazek, Matt Murray, and Chris Driedger are among the unsigned veterans.  Alternatively, they could look to the trade market to either get an extra depth option to backfill in Hartford for the injuries or add a third-string option who could join New York’s roster in short order.  GM Chris Drury will undoubtedly be assessing what’s out there before long while hoping for some good news about his star netminder in that the injury isn’t as bad as it looks.