Why Shesterkin is the Clear Choice for the Rangers in the Playoffs

By now David Quinn has probably made his decision as to which goaltender he's going to go with against the Carolina Hurricanes in the playoffs, and unless he saw something the rest of us didn't in the exhibition game against the Islanders, I fully expect Igor Shesterkin will start between the pipes Saturday afternoon.

It's the only choice Quinn could make. Yes, Henrik Lundqvist has started every playoff game the Rangers have been in since his arrival in the 2005-06 season. That's quite a streak, but with all due respect to the King, that's not enough to justify starting him in this round.

This team is not the same team it was back when Lundqvist was a perennial Vezina trophy finalist year in and year out. Hell, it's not even the same team it was a year ago when it was in the middle of its rebuilding effort. The fact is this is one of the youngest teams in the NHL, with an average age of just under 26, and that's with a 38 year-old goalie and two defensemen in their early 30s on the roster. After next season, it will be even younger once those contracts are off the books. To take one more stroll down memory lane for old-time sake would do a disservice to all the hard work management has done over the last two seasons.

Look, no one seriously believes this team is good enough to win the Stanley Cup this year. As I wrote in an earlier piece, if they do beat the Hurricanes, they will likely get trounced by whoever they play in the next round. But this will be an important first step for the core of this team that will allow John Davidson and Jeff Gorton to evaluate where they are in the rebuild and to determine what changes will have to be made in order to get them closer to the grail.

Frankly, this is a rather rare moment in Rangers' history. Not since the Emile Francis era has this franchise been in a position to put together a roster that has the capacity of remaining intact for more than a couple of seasons. If you recall, that team's core was together pretty much from 1968-69 thru 1973-74, and had Jean Ratelle not suffered a season-ending injury in '72 playoffs, they might've beaten the Boston Bruins for the Cup.

Since then the franchise has had its moments when it flirted with success ('79) and even caught the bear once ('94), but such moments were rare and always came with a terrible price tag. The '79 team turned out to be a flash in the pan as aging stars like Phil Esposito eventually retired and established veterans like Ulf Nilsson never lived up to expectations. The '94 Cup team was assembled by jettisoning every prospect in the system, which eventually led to a bare cupboard and a dearth of playoff appearances.

Even the most recent "run" - as some have erroneously called it - began and ended with the importing of aging stars like Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Marty St. Louis. Jagr played three seasons for the Blueshirts before going back to Europe, Shanahan retired after two seasons and St. Louis did the same after a year plus. The sum total for all that wheeling and dealing? Two trips to the conference finals, one to the Cup finals and zero championships.

Hopefully, this management team will not make the same mistakes as its predecessors and assemble a team that even with a flat cap can be a legitimate Cup contender and endure the test of time. If Gorton can find a way to maneuver around next year's cap hell that he, himself, inadvertently created by buying out Kevin Shattenkirk - another expensive import that should never have been signed - he's in good shape going forward to lock up his stars for the foreseeable future.

And one of those stars is Shesterkin. That's why, regardless of what happens over the next few days, he needs to start every game. Like the football Giants did when they benched Eli Manning for Daniel Jones last year, the Rangers need to make a commitment to their youngsters so that their youngsters can get the experience they need to win a title.

Maybe if Lundqvist had played with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad in his prime instead of Rick Nash and Derek Stepan, he might've won that Cup final in 2014. It certainly didn't hurt Mike Richter any having Mark Messier and Brian Leetch for teammates on that '94 team. Great goaltenders can only accomplish so much on their own. They need foot soldiers in front of them to carry the load.

I feel bad for Lundqvist, I really do. He deserved a better fate than this. When he retires he'll be the best goaltender of all time not to win a Cup. And that's unfortunate. But unfortunate or not, that's no excuse for the Rangers to throw good money after bad.

It's Shesterkin's time. This is his team. The future belongs to the young. And the future is now.

Rangers vs. Hurricanes: An In-depth Look

The other day I previewed the NHL Play-in round and gave each series a quick synopsis. But I wanted to take a more in-depth look at the Rangers - Hurricanes matchup, because, in my opinion, this is the most intriguing series in the opening round and I thought it deserved a closer look.

First off, I agree that the regular season shouldn't be the ultimate decider when choosing a winner. Yes, the Rangers won all four of their meetings with the Hurricanes, but two of those games were close and the first - in Rallye - could very well have been a rout for the Canes had it not been for Henrik Lundqvist practically standing on his head.

I also stipulate that this Rangers team, despite an impressive second half, is still learning how to win and was way too inconsistent for my tastes, especially on defense, where they ranked near the bottom of the league in goals allowed. Even if they do beat Carolina, the prospects for them making it past the next round are slim to none, especially if they wind up playing the Bruins.

That being said, two points separated these teams, and given that they have a decided edge at forward in goal, as well as in goal, I feel pretty optimistic about the Blueshirts chances in this series. Let's break it down.

Forward:

There's no doubt the Hurricanes' top line of Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov  is quite imposing. It's arguably one of the best in the league. The Rangers will have their hands full trying to contain them. But once you get past that line, the pickens are slim. Jordan Staal is their second line center and he scored a whopping 8 goals. Trade deadline acquisition Vincent Trocheck only netted 11, one with the Canes. And Justin Williams, yes that Justin Williams, is living on borrowed time at 38. Nothing about these guys puts the fear of God into me.

The Rangers boast two of the best forwards in the league in Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. The problem for opposing coaches is that they play on two different lines. Zibanejad scored an amazing 41 goals in just 57 regular season games. That's a higher goal per game percentage than Alex Ovechkin. He centers a line with Chris Kreider on the left and Pavel Buchnevich on the right. Panarin finished the season with 95 points and could be the best left wing in the game. Ryan Strome centers this line with Jesper Fast on the right side.

Even if you could make the argument that the Hurricanes back six forwards are better than the Rangers back six forwards, which I don't agree with, there's no denying the fact that up front at least, New York is loaded here. In fact, the Hurricanes have only three forwards with over 40 points, while the Rangers have five. Don't be shocked if David Quinn moves Brett Howden to left wing with Filip Chytil in the middle and Kappo Kakko on the right to get more offense on the third line. The kids, as they're called, are all 21 and under.

Edge: Rangers

Defense:

The Hurricanes were very stingy when it came to giving up goals. In fact, they were 6th in the league in goals allowed. And with a healthy Dougie Hamilton, this would've been a formidable group. Unfortunately for the Canes, he still hasn't fully recovered from the injury he sustained in January. If he's unable to play in this series, this will be a huge blow to Carolina.

The Rangers, on the other hand, were 24th in the league in goals allowed. They also gave up way too many shots on goal, often forcing their goaltenders to make incredible saves. But offensively, this is as good a group of defensemen as you'd want. Tony DeAngelo finished the season with 58 points, fourth best on the team, while rookie Adam Fox, a gift from the Hurricanes, had 42 points, good for seventh overall.

Edge: If Hamilton plays, slight edge to Hurricanes; if not, even.

Goal:

This isn't even close. The Hurricanes will go with Petr Mrazek, who is certainly capable, but hardly an elite net minder. How they didn't address this area during the season is beyond me. Instead of taking Brady Skjei and his $5.25 million contract off the Rangers hands, they should've inquired about either Henrik Lundqvist or Alexandar Georgiev. Either would've been a vast improvement over Mrazek.

The Rangers are the only team in the tournament to boast three number one goalies on their roster, one of which won't even dress in Toronto. Expect Igor Shesterkin to start. All he did was go 10-2 with a 2.52 goals against average. If he falters, Lundqvist is waiting in the wings. As I said, this isn't even close.

Edge: Rangers by a ton.

Intangibles:

The Hurricanes went to the conference finals last year and have the edge over the Rangers in experience, but the Bueshirts have the youth and explosiveness to overcome that. That makes them a very dangerous playoff team.

Edge: Rangers.

Coaching:

Both Rod Brind'Armour and David Quinn are second year coaches, but Brind'Armour has more relevant experience having coached his team deep into last year's playoffs, not to mention having spent 10 seasons as a player with Carolina. Both are excellent at getting their respective teams ready to play.

Edge: Even.

Based on the above, the Rangers have the clear advantage in this series. They're deeper than the Hurricanes at every position and they're more explosive, which after a long hiatus will benefit them greatly in a short series.

Rangers in four.

NHL Playoff Predictions - Play-in Round

After a four and half month sabbatical due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs will finally get under way August 1. The two hub cities - Toronto and Edmonton - will host the playoffs; Toronto the Eastern conference, Edmonton the Western conference.

The Play-in round - or as we used to call it back in the day the preliminary round - will consist of four best of five series per conference between the lower eight teams: five through twelve. The winners will play the top four teams in each conference. Because the top four teams play three games each in a round robin the final seeding is yet to be determined. That and the fact that the league has decided to reseed after each round, makes it impossible to predict what the matchups will be in the second round.

However, we do know, and have known for some time, what the matchups are for this round. Before I get into my picks, some observations. First, there's no way of knowing what effect such a long layoff will have on each team. Consider that in the 1991-92 season, the Rangers were the clear favorites to win the Cup. Then the players went out on strike just before the playoffs began, and even though the stoppage lasted only last ten days, it was enough to disrupt the Blueshirts momentum heading into the tournament. They struggled to beat the Devils in seven in the first round, then got ousted by the Penguins in the second. Just imagine what the Bruins must be thinking.

That being said, since everyone's in the same boat, my gut tells me that the best talented teams will prevail, assuming, that is, that no one tests positive for the virus. If a Sidney Crosby, an Artemi Panarin, or an Alex Ovechkin were to test positive, that would be a game changer. The fact that the playoffs are taking place north of the border in two Canadian cities where the virus for the most part is under control gives me hope that the NHL, of all the sports leagues in North America, may come out unscathed.

So, without further ado, let's get started.

Eastern Conference:

Penguins (5) vs. Canadiens (12). Forget all the hype about Carey Price possibly stealing this series for the Habs. They're just not that good a team. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has the scoring to turn this into a laugher pretty quickly. Pens in three.

Hurricanes (6) vs. Rangers (11). Now you know why Carolina voted no to this playoff format. The Blueshirts, in addition to sweeping the season series against the Hurricanes, had one of the best second-half records in the NHL. When you consider they have two of the best forwards in the league playing on two separate lines, top scoring on the backline and superior goaltending, if Dougie Hamilton can't go, this could get ugly fast. Rangers in four.

Islanders (7) vs. Panthers (10). The Putty Tats do have balanced scoring up front, I'll give them that, but the Islanders style of play and defensive-minded system will take its toll. Both coaches are Cup winners, but only one has the players that can win in the trenches. Isles in four.

Maple Leafs (8) vs. Blue Jackets (9). If the Leafs can't win a series with all the games played in their own host city they should be ashamed of themselves. Fortunately for them they catch a break here. John Tortorella is a great coach but, unlike last season when his team swept the Lightning, he doesn't have the horses this time around. Leafs in five.

Western Conference:

Oilers (5) vs. Blackhawks (12). How pissed are the Oilers? By all rights, they should be the four seed playing round-robin games. Instead they get stuck playing the Hawks, who, let's be honest, are at least three seasons removed from being a serious playoff contender. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are going to have a field day. Edmonton is putting together a team that looks strangely like the one that captured five Cups in seven years three decades ago. Oilers in three.

Predators (6) vs. Coyotes (11). With Nashville, you never know what you're going to get. Since going to the finals three seasons ago, they've been perennial underachievers. Against a Phoenix team that's somewhat undermanned, they should prevail, but I wouldn't bet any money on them. Preds in five.

Canucks (7) vs. Wild (10). When J.T. Miller is your leading scorer that's not saying much. Still against a Minnesota team that did its best to put the rest of the league to sleep this season that might be enough. Interesting tidbit: Miller will be facing another ex-Rangers teammate in Mats Zuccarello, which will only mean something in New York. Canucks in five.

Flames (8) vs. Jets (9). Call this a tossup. Two seasons ago, the Jets made it all the way to the conference finals before being upset by the Vegas Golden Knights. So that's probably enough to tilt the series in their favor. Plus they have the likely Vezina trophy winner. Jets in five.

As in my past predictions, don't put much stock in these. I do them primarily for fun.

Enjoy the games. We've certainly waited long enough for them.