Igor Shesterkin is out for the 2026-27 season, the New York Rangers announced Saturday, a day after he left a loss to the Washington Capitals with what appeared to be a serious lower-body injury. As is typical of the NHL, the Rangers did not release details of exactly what happened to Shesterkin, but a prominent sports injury expert and rehabilitation specialist has now analyzed video of the injury to give a more complete and specific picture of the devastating injury to the 30-year-old goaltender.
There is little question that Shesterkin, a two-time All-Star Game selection, is the Rangers’ most indispensable player. Last season, New York went 9-20-3 in games without Shesterkin, according to NHL Trade Talk, which leaves open who will man the crease from here.
The injury came in the second period of Friday’s 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. With the Capitals on the power play, Shesterkin scrambled back toward his net and jammed his right skate into the post, according to NHL.com‘s Tom Gulitti. His right leg bent beneath him as he fell.
Defensemen Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson helped him off the ice without any weight on that leg, and he needed help again in the tunnel. He had stopped 13 of 14 shots before Dylan Garand replaced him.
“He’s a pillar of this team,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said, as quoted by NHL.com.
Shesterkin, 30, was born in Moscow and arrived in New York as a fourth-round pick, 118th overall, in the 2014 NHL Draft. He won the 2021-22 Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie, going 36-13-4 with a .935 save percentage. He opened this season 3-1-0 and scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 1, according to NHL.com.
Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin Injury: Expert Analysis
The team has described the injury as a right knee injury, according to an ESPN report. Darren McConaghy, an athletic trainer who focuses on injury, rehabilitation and return to performance, studied video and photos of the play.
“It’s easy to be misled by modern goalie pads. They’re designed to maintain a vertical position, while the leg behind the pad can be positioned very differently. Make no mistake, Shesterkin’s right knee appears to undergo significant valgus stress here. MCL, ACL and meniscus injuries are all concerns,” McConaghy wrote in a Friday night social media thread.
Valgus stress is force that drives the knee inward, toward the body’s midline.
A second photo angle shifted the focus lower on Shesterkin’s leg.
“With his right skate braced against the post, rotational forces could stress the distal tibiofibular joint. A syndesmotic injury or fibular fracture now enters the discussion alongside my original knee concerns,” McConaghy wrote.
The syndesmosis is the ligament complex that binds the two lower-leg bones near the ankle.
McConaghy returned to the subject after the Rangers ruled Shesterkin out.
“Shesterkin being ruled out for the season would suggest significant structural damage. Based on the mechanism, an ACL tear, potentially involving other knee structures, or a significant fracture would move higher on my list. Still awaiting a diagnosis confirmation,” McConaghy wrote in his analysis.
Dr. Jesse Morse, a board-certified sports and family medicine physician, also reviewed the video. His initial concerns were a “right ankle fracture (due to the goalpost not moving) or torn right ACL,” the sports doctor wrote in his own post.
New York Rangers’ Season Outlook Without Igor Shesterkin
Garand, 24, becomes the starter. He made 22 saves in a 2-0 win at Detroit on Oct. 2 for his first NHL shutout and is 3-1-1 with a 1.31 goals-against average in five career games, according to NHL.com. Backup Joonas Korpisalo is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
The Rangers signed Shesterkin in 2024 to an eight-year, $92 million contract that made him the highest-paid goalie in NHL history, according to NHL Trade Talk. Placing that deal on long-term injured reserve would free cap space to add a goaltender, and the site named Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who is awaiting a trade, as one possible target.
The Rangers face the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. The 4-2-0 Rangers should have at least somewhat more clarity on their goalie situation by then.
What Happened to Igor Shesterkin? Injury Expert Analyzes What Video Reveals