Ranking Rangers goalies among best tandems in NHL

Apparently there is something called NHL Goalie Week here in late August, a social media appreciation of those who play the position. Certainly, the New York Rangers have a 365 appreciation for their goalies, Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick, who combined to help them win a franchise-record 55 games last season (well, 54 really. Louis Domingue won his only Rangers start of the season Nov. 9 to make it 55).

In Shesterkin, the Rangers have one of the best goalies in the world. The 28-year-old, who won the Vezina Trophy as the top NHL goalie in 2021-22, not only is 135-59-17 in 213 games over five seasons, he owns an outstanding .921 career save percentage and 2.43 goals-against average.

Best part about Shesterkin? He’s even better in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The money goaltender has a .928 save percentage in 44 postseason games, and has led the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final two of the past three seasons. And you saw what he did this past spring, a one-man show in that six-game loss to the Florida Panthers, trying to will the Rangers into the Stanley Cup Final.

Speaking of money, Shesterkin will be seeking a lot of it very soon. He’s due to become an unrestricted free agent after this season and reported plans on becoming the highest-paid goalie in NHL history. We’re likely talking more than $12 million annually on a long-term deal.

But that’s for another day.

Quick is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, who was the No. 1 in Los Angeles when the Kings won the title in 2012 and 2014. Yes, that 2014, against Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers. But he quickly won the Garden Faithful over last season when he was 9-0-1 in his first 10 decisions with the Rangers. He finished his first season in New York with more wins than any other No. 2 goalie in the League (18) and had a solid .911 save percentage in 27 games.

The question this season is whether the 38-year-old — the winningest United States-born goalie in NHL history (393) — can run it back at the level he played at in 2023-24.

That said, there’s no question that the tandem of Shesterkin and Quick is one of the best in the NHL. Where exactly do they rank among the 31 other teams in the League? Let’s take a look.

Related: Debating whether Kaapo Kakko deserves another shot on Rangers No. 1 line

Where Rangers goalies rank among other NHL tandems

Let’s cut to the chase. We have the duo of Shesterkin and Quick ranked in the top-5 of NHL goalie tandems. We’ll break down the top 5 below.

It should be noted that no tandem is perfect and each comes with question marks. And that includes the Rangers pair of goalies.

Plus there are teams that have an outstanding No. 1, like Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, but failed to land in the top-5 because the No. 2 is not so great (Kaapo Kahkonen with the Jets).

Honorable mentions

Here are four teams that could’ve landed in our top-5 and very well could move past teams higher than them on this list during the season.

The Vancouver Canucks have an outstanding pair of goalies with Thatcher Demko and Arturs Silovs. But they just miss the cut because Demko is a health risk who won’t start camp on time and Silovs is still a bit untested despite his solid work in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer of the St. Louis Blues also just missed the top-5, mainly because of Binnington’s inconsistencies year-to-year. As for the Seattle Kraken, want to see if Joey Daccord can do it again as the No. 1 after his breakout season, and if Philipp Grubauer can remain in form as his partner.

The Dallas Stars would have made this last last season with Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood. But they fall just short now that Casey DeSmith is the No. 2 after Wedgewood departed for the Nashville Predators.

WATCH: Igor Shesterkin shows why goalie goal could be in his future

5. Nashville Predators (Juuse Saros & Scott Wedgewood)

Wait, did we just mention the Predators? Yes, we did. And they land at No. 5 on this list because Saros is one of the elite No. 1 goalies in the League and Wedgewood (16 wins in Dallas last season) is an excellent backup.

Saros just landed a massive new contract despite an up-and-down 2023-24 season. But he, and Wedgewood, should benefit from a Predators team that is much improved with Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei now on the roster. These goalies will now be playing for a true Stanley Cup contender.

4. Carolina Hurricanes (Frederik Andersen & Pyotr Kochetkov)

The Hurricanes had the fourth-best team GAA last season (2.57) and this season Frederik Andersen is healthy and Pyotr Kochetkov has another year of experience on his 25-year-old resume. In fact, it’s easy to see Kochetkov splitting starts with Andersen (34) to form a No. 1 and 1a situation.

Andersen was outstanding down the stretch last season. The rub with him is that he’s not a money goalie in the playoffs. But over an 82-game regular season, he and Kochetkov are a solid pair.

And they will benefit from the stingy defensive play favored by coach Rod Brind’Amour, even after a host of changes to their roster from a year ago.

3. Florida Panthers (Sergei Bobrovsky & Spencer Knight)

Bobrovsky may be 35 now, but he’s a two-time Vezina Trophy winner and recently-minted Stanley Cup champion, who found his game again the past two seasons. He and Anthony Stolarz helped the Panthers lead the League with a 2.41 team GAA in 2023-24.

Stolarz left as a free agent and signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs to form an intriguing one-two punch with Joseph Woll. So, the X-Factor here is Knight. Once the top goalie prospect in the NHL, Knight has battled mental health issues and spent most of last season in the minors. Knight is only 23, so if he can find his stride again, the Panthers will have a pair of starting caliber goalies on the roster, making them tough to beat on any given night.

2. New York Rangers (Igor Shesterkin & Jonathan Quick)

The dynamic Rangers duo are back for their second season together after helping New York to a 2.76 team GAA last season, seventh best in the NHL. Shesterkin actually could improve on a sometimes-shaky (for him) 2023-24 season. If he regains his Vezina form of 2021-22 (2.07 GAA, .935 save percentage, six shutouts), then watch out, the Rangers are going to be a tough out this season.

As mentioned above, the key here is Quick maintaining his elite play of a year ago in what could be his final NHL season.

1. New York Islanders (Ilya Sorokin & Semyon Varlamov)

The top spot goes to the Rangers rivals on Long Island. But there’s a major caveat. Sorokin needs to get back to his top form, the one that made him a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2022-23. His game was off most of last season and into the first round of the playoffs, where the Islanders were kayoed in five games by the Hurricanes.

Sorokin’s GAA ballooned to 3.01 from 2.34 and his save percentage fell from .924 to .909 year over year. Yet, it’s hard to believe the 29-year-old won’t bounce back in a big way this season.

Either way, Varlamov is as good a backup as there is in the NHL. And he’s capable of stepping into the No. 1 role if Sorokin struggles or gets hurt without there being much of a drop-off in play.

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