Shesterkin: 'Something broke' during Rangers' season
The New York Rangers were arguably the most disappointing team of the 2024-25 campaign, missing the playoffs a year after winning the Presidents' Trophy and appearing in the Eastern Conference Final.
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin couldn't put his finger on what exactly went awry, but something was off.
"In my mind, something broke during the season and (went) the other way," Shesterkin said. "We couldn't handle it."
The Rangers made headlines in the offseason by shopping captain Jacob Trouba, who was ultimately dealt to the Anaheim Ducks in December. The team also lost assistant captain Barclay Goodrow to waivers in June.
"Obviously at a certain point it does become somewhat of a distraction," veteran forward Chris Kreider said of losing important leaders.
Kreider added: "Two guys that were massive leaders for us and a big part of our room. I just think there was this dynamic and changing an environment like that. Not even to get into the personal relationships we all had, what good people they are, things that they did. Not just around the rink and for our team on the ice, but in the community and the positive impact they had. Two very good humans. It was certainly challenging."
A report surfaced in late November that the Rangers' front office, led by general manager Chris Drury, wanted to shake up the roster. At the time, New York was 12-7-1 and held the Eastern Conference's top wild-card spot.
In addition to Trouba, the Rangers also ended up trading away forward Kaapo Kakko, among others. The roster decisions, dating back to the summer, reportedly caused a rift between the players and Drury.
"There was a lot of noise around our team this year," forward Mika Zibanejad said. "I'm not saying that it is the cause of (the poor season), but it wasn't the calmness I felt like we had the year before."
The club went 3-10-0 in December after the report about management and was never quite able to dig itself out of that hole, finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference. Head coach Peter Laviolette was fired Saturday after two seasons with the club.
Kreider and Zibanejad were among several players to endure down seasons. Kreider's point total fell from 75 to 30, while Zibanejad's decreased from 72 to 62.
Shesterkin was one of the team's few bright spots, though. While his .905 save percentage and 2.86 goals-against average were rather pedestrian, he led the league in saves and finished sixth with 28.6 goals saved above expected, per Evolving-Hockey.
"He's probably the best player on the team," defenseman Calvin de Haan said of Shesterkin. "F---, he's good. I realized that today, these past 45 games. He's good. I think we pissed away good goaltending."