The New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy after being voted the best goalie at the 2022 NHL Award.
Shesterkin played in 53 games and started 52 this season. He was third in shutouts and sixth in wins. He also recorded a save percentage of at least .940 in 26 starts.
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“It means a lot to me,” Shesterkin said upon receiving the award. “I didn’t think about it when I came to the NHL, but sometimes you think ‘Maybe I have a chance.’
“[In] the first preseason [game] against the Islanders, I didn’t play. One guy, one small child in the middle, showed me a picture of myself and (it said) ‘For Future Vezina Trophy Winner.’… I think, ‘Why not? We have a good team for that’. Everybody helped me so much with that. [It’s a] team win.”
Team defenseman Jacob Trouba said that Shesterkin deserved the award. “He’s been our backbone all year, and he deserves all the accolades that are coming his way,” he said.
“He’s kept us in games early in the year we weren’t supposed to win,” said Rangers defenseman Adam Fox.
Shesterskin became the third Rangers goalie in the past 40 years to win the Vezina Trophy, joining the ranks of Henrik Lundqvist (2011-12) and John Vanbiesbrouck (1985-86). This season, he went for 36-13-4 in 53 games with an NHL-best 2.07 goal-against-average plus a .935 save percentage before leading a playoff run against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference final.
Sadly, they lost to the Lightning in Game 6. Nevertheless, Shesterkin still helped the Rangers advance to the final.
Shesterkin started writing his Rangers legacy in his first 82-game as a starter. Besides two blemishes in the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he started and completed all 20 playoff games for the Rangers, with a .936 save percentage from Game 5 onward.
Other awards and nominations
The Professional Hockey Writers Association nominated Shesterkin for the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. In the end, however, Toronto Mapple Leafs forward Auston Matthews won the award instead. Earlier, he said he would not win the trophy over Matthews.
“It feels really good. It’s pretty special,” Matthews said, while admitting there were some bittersweet feelings upon accepting the award in Tampa.
During the NHL Awards Show, the Professional Hockey Writers Association gave Matthews 119 first-place votes, placing him well ahead of the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Shesterkin.
Regardless, Shesterkin was on par with them this season. His 34.1 GSAx was the most in the league despite playing ten fewer regular-season games than Andrei Vasilevskiy, who landed second place.
Additionally, while Shesterkin was named the top goaltender in the league, the Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Maker took the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman. Colorado takes on the Lightning in game 4 tonight and ATS.io has a betting pick and preview ready to go.
Meanwhile, Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings received the Calder Trophy as the top rookie.
Two days after the defeat against the Lightning, Shesterkin said that he planned to take a rest for a couple of weeks. He said he was grateful for the season despite the loss.
“I want to thank Ranger fans and fans everywhere,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen, but when I give up a goal and the crowd chants my name, I just stand up and try to hold my breath for this city and these people.”