Hank VS Igor...How good has Igor really been??

Not many teams go from a top 5 goalie of all time to what is a Vezina contending goaltender back to back. In the case of the New York Rangers, they did just that. The Rangers retired the number 30 earlier this season in honor of hall of fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Watching from the bench was Igor Shesterkin the goalie of the future for the Rangers. The two never played together apart from a short stint in the Covid shortened season a few years ago. Although the abrupt ending to hank’s time in New York and Shesterkin’s rise to the starter was the closest thing to a “passing of the torch” fans got.

Throughout his longstanding tenure with the New York Rangers “King Henrik” was always the backbone of the team and was always the safety net. Without his great success, the Rangers do not have the same success that they had seen in the 2000s and 2010s.

Likewise has been what Igor Shesterkin’s role has been as well. So far Igor has proven to be worth all of the hype and then some. He has been the backbone of the New York Rangers and he has only played one full season and he is already nominated for the Vezina which he will probably win. As well as the Hart trophy.

And as the playoffs go on Igor proves time and time again that he is worth it and will continue to be a bright spot on what is sometimes been a rather underwhelming rangers team these playoffs.

The comparisons of Shesterkin and Lundqvist have been made ever since the beginning of this season. Although as the playoffs continue and the season ended the comparisons have been correct. Specifically is the comparisons between Henrik Lundqvist’s 2011-12 campaign where he won the Vezina and was nominated for the Hart and Igor’s current season where he is virtually guaranteed to win the Vezina as well was nominated for the Hart.

In the season where Hank had won the Vezina, he obviously had stellar stats. Those being a 39-18-5 record a .930 save percentage and a 1.97 GAA, along with 6 shutouts. Leading the Rangers to a 51-24-7 record and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance which they lost to the New Jersey Devils in six games.

This season Igor has had very similar stats. Posting a 36-13-4 record, a .935 save percentage, a 2.07 GAA along with 6 shutouts. The Rangers finished the regular season with a 52-24-6 record. Shesterkin has led them to at the very least the eastern Conference finals as of June 10th, 2022 the rangers are down 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the series.

In the 2012 season, Henrik Lundqvist continued his stellar play into the playoffs winning ten games. Along with having a .931 save percentage, a 1.82 GAA, and 3 shutouts. Hank also had two Game 7 wins in which he had a .960 save percentage and a 1 GAA in those two games.

This season after a shaky start to the Playoffs Igor has found his game in the playoffs and has played great posting a .929 save percentage and a 2.62 GAA with no shutouts. Although he also has ice in his veins like the king before him with two Game 7 wins. In an overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he had a .929 save percentage and only allowed 3 goals on 42 Penguins shots. And in another Game 7 against the Carolina Hurricanes, he was even better. Finished with a .949 save percentage and 2 goals against on 39 shots.

As of June 10th Igor Shesterkin has a 17.5 GSAx. Meaning that he has saved 17 more goals than what would’ve been expected of him in these playoffs. In 19 games played he has 49 goals against and an expected goals of 66.47.

When compared to Henrik Lundqvist’s GSAx in the 2011-12 season Igor absolutely crushes him. Henrik had a measly 6.9 GSAx in the playoffs. In 20 games played in the playoffs Lundqvist had allowed 38 goals, whereas he was expected to have let in 44 goals.

Igor is also 2.91 wins above replacement in these playoffs. Meanwhile Hank was only at 1.16 wins above replacement.

Both of these stats by Igor this season are historical marks for a goalie in the playoffs. The next closest in GSAx is Mike Smith in 2012 with 14.6 and in wins above replacement it is also Smith at 2.43.

In this years playoffs the next closest in GSAx is actually Andrei Vasilevskiy who he is currently battling with in the Eastern Conference Finals. The closest goalie to him in wins above replacement is also Vasilevskiy at 1.99 wins above replacement.

So Igor is in fact having an incredible post-season as well as a historic regular season in which he can become the first goalie to win the Hart since Carey Price did it in 2015.

Igor is a genuine Hart contender this year and has proven he belongs in the conversation of top goalie in the league.

Although one playoff run is not enough to base whether or not Hank or Igor is better. Although Igor has proven that when it’s time to be a star he will lock in and be the star that the team needs.

Like his predecessor between the pipes Igor has proven to be worthy of all the “Igor, Igor, Igor” chants that the Garden has come to love so dearly…as well as some other arenas.

Igor and Hank are similar in that without them between the pipes the teams don’t have a chance to go far in the playoffs. This is a young Rangers team and Igor is only 26 and shows no signs of slowing down.

As of right now, it may seem that it is easy to just say Hank was better but the stats may prove otherwise. Although it’s also not fair to judge a goalie off of just one run in their first playoffs as the full-time starter.

What was a huge trait of Henrik Lundqvist was his consistency and class. If Igor can manage to keep that same consistency and class the “The King” was able to uphold then perhaps “The Czar” of New York will be the one to finally bring a cup back to the big apple for the first time since Mark Messier and Mike Richter did it in 1994.

Regardless of the outcome of these playoffs, Igor has proven he is the guy between the pipes. Any doubt that may have been there should be absolutely gone now. He is the guy. And will be the guy for years to come.