Fantasy Summary
Shesterkin is an interesting prospect. He has dominated every junior/minor level. In drafting Shesterkin, the Rangers may have landed a goaltending steal at the draft.
Observations
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July 2017 — Shestyorkin had a lights out 2017-18 season in the KHL where he posted a 1.64 GAA and 0.937 save % for SKA St Petersburg, while also winning the Gagarin Cup during his first full pro season. Shestyorkin doesn’t fit the mould of the modern goalie at 6’1” however he relies on his extraordinary reflexes and skill set similar to New York’s Mr. Lundquist. Contractually Shestyorkin is locked up by SKA through 2018-19 so unless the Rangers exercise a buyout don’t expect to see him in North America in the near future. Geoff Kent
November 2016 – The twenty year old made the jump to full time duties in the KHL and has been nothing short of fantastic through the first half of the season. After winning the starting role over Mikko Koskinen, Igor has recorded 19 wins and posted a 0.942 save percentage and 1.51 GAA in 26 starts for SKA St Petersburg. He also leads the KHL with 8 shutouts. It will be interesting to see if the young tender can sustain such stellar numbers through the second half of his first pro campaign in Russia’s top league. Geoff Kent
September 2016 – Fantasy owners and New York Rangers fans alike were disappointed upon learning that top goaltending prospect, Igor Shesterkin, had inked a three-year extension with KHL club SKA on September 1st. With the KHL and NHL being at odds, it’s unlikely that Shesterkin will find a way to get to North America (if he even wants to) before his extension runs out in 2020. Keeper owners should be on alert to see how this situation develops. Dylan Finan
March 2015 – The Russian Netminder continuously to impress the hockey world with his talent. He has had an excellent post-draft season. Shesterkin stole the number one job from Ilya Sorokin at the World Junior Championships and played a key role in helping Team Russia advance to the gold medal game. He started five games and earned three wins, one of them included a shutout. Shesterkin only played in six KHL games this season, which is not a surprise, because his SKA team is top notch club in KHL and they prefer to play veterans over youngsters. He is very sound technically, extremely athletic and very calm under pressure for his age. He moves well in his crease and has a very quick glove hand. Shesterkin has a contract with the SKA until 2016. The next step is for him to secure a job in the KHL, which will be a tough task because of how competitive they are with a goaltending rival in Mikko Koskinen. Jozsef Kurtosi
November 2014 – New York Rangers took Shesterkin (or Shestyorkin) with their own fourth round pick last year’s draft. The Moscow native goalie really turned heads two years ago with a dominant IIHF under-18 tournament performance for Russia as an underage player. He is a very talented young goalie with some KHL experience from last season. This year his team (SKA) constantly shifting him between the KHL, VHL (second tier Russian league) and MHL (top level Russian junior league) to give him much needed playing time. Played for Team Russia in the 2014 Subway Super Series, where he picked up two wins in his first two starts, including a shutout versus Team OHL. He has a very good chance to backing up Ilya Sorokin this year at the U20 WJC in Canada. Shesterkin is a confident and charismatic goalie with some phenomenal reflexes. Best style comparison for him is Semyon Varlamov. Altough he needs plenty of work on his technique, but his focus and concentration are outstanding. Jozsef Kurtosi
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