The contract came one day after the Rangers traded captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Trouba has one more season remaining on the seven-year, $56 million contract ($8 million AAV) he signed with the Rangers as a restricted free agent on July 19, 2019. The rest of that contract will be paid by the Ducks, freeing up NHL salary cap space to sign Shesterkin.
New York (14-11-1) is 2-7-0 in its past nine games after a 7-5 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Sunday. Shesterkin made 20 saves in a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday after allowing 18 goals in his previous five starts (all losses). He is 9-9-1 with a 2.99 goals-against average and .908 save percentage, both NHL career worsts, in 19 starts this season.
Jonathan Quick allowed six goals on 21 shots for the Rangers in the fourth of a five-game homestand Sunday; Shesterkin was not available after his wife went into labor. Dylan Garand was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League and served as the backup.
“I really like our core; I think we’ve got a lot of good players,” Drury said. “We’ve got a lot of good veterans. We’ve got a lot of kids who are coming up and grabbing more ice time, demanding more ice time with their play.
“With that said, we’re always looking to see what we could do better and we’ll continue to do so. But I like our team. I like the players we have in different spots. Again, looking forward to trying to finish this homestand off with some wins.”
Shesterkin has been one of the best goalies in the NHL in recent seasons.
He has helped the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference Final twice: in 2022, when they lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and last season, when they lost in six games to the Florida Panthers after winning the Presidents' Trophy for the best record in the regular season (55-23-4, 114 points).
He won the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL in 2021-22, when he also finished third in the voting for the Hart Trophy, which is awarded to the League's most valuable player.
“It’s certainly nice to have it done, to have the certainty with that position and knowing what the cap hit is going to be moving forward," Drury said. "We’re excited to get it done, excited to move forward with him.”
Among goalies to play at least 100 games since the start of the 2021-22 season, Shesterkin is second in the NHL with 118 wins and a .920 save percentage, and third in GAA (2.45). He is also 23-19 with a 2.39 GAA and .929 save percentage in 43 Stanley Cup Playoff games during that span.
Last season, Shesterkin struggled in the first half, posting a 2.86 GAA, .899 save percentage and no shutouts in 32 games prior to the All-Star break, though he was selected to and played in the NHL All-Star Game.
He took a week off after the break to work on his game and went 17-5-1 with four shutouts, a 2.20 GAA and .930 save percentage in 23 games from Feb. 9 to the end of the regular season. He was 10-6 with a 2.34 GAA and .927 save percentage in 16 playoff games.
"Igor was just fantastic and his playoffs were outstanding," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's such an important position, it's nice that you don't have to talk that much about it."
A fourth-round selection (No. 118) by New York in the 2014 NHL Draft, Shesterkin is 144-68-18 with a 2.47 GAA, .920 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 232 regular-season games (227 starts). He is 23-20 with a 2.41 GAA and .928 save percentage in 16 playoff games.
“He's proven to be one of the top goaltenders, and so to take such an important piece on our team and secure that piece for eight years is really reassuring,” Laviolette said Sunday. “When you think about sports in general, there's really important positions when it comes to hockey -- goaltending is one of them, and we're fortunate to have one of the better ones.”
NHL.com senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report