Unmasked: Shesterkin master of movement in crease for Rangers

It would be an exaggeration to say Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers is changing the way goalies move, but the 25-year-old is at the very least raising that standard in the NHL.

The Rangers' No. 1 goalie is 5-1-2 this season with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage that ranks fifth among goalies to play at least six games. Since winning his NHL debut on Jan. 7, 2020, Shesterkin has a .924 save percentage, tied for second in the NHL with Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, trailing Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators (.929) among goalies to play at least 40 games in that span.
A big part of that success is how well Shesterkin moves on his skates, and how patiently he holds his edges and outwaits shooters, but it's the way he gets around his crease after he has dropped to his knees that is opening eyes around the NHL and beyond.

"He's an absolute hovercraft on the ice," Vancouver Canucks goalie coach Ian Clark said.
Shesterkin's ability to "skate" from his knees is arguably the best in the NHL right now.
"Shesterkin is for sure one of the best in the world moving on his skates or on the ice," said Marko Torenius, who was one of two goaltending coaches to work with Shesterkin during his five seasons playing for SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Shesterkin's movement on the ice goes beyond traditional butterfly pushes back and forth, or to the post, in which a goalie lifts the outside knee off the ice to grab an edge with that skate and twists the upper body to rotate before using that lifted leg to push across. The way Shesterkin pivots and rotates, adding or giving back depth as needed by using his edges to turn while on his knees is at another level, and includes at least one move few have seen before.
"The naked eye can see he's moving, I hate saying better than everybody, but it just looks a little different than everybody," said Steve Valiquette, who played five of his six NHL seasons with the Rangers and now covers them as studio analyst for MSG Network. "Then you take a closer look in slow motion, and you can see why. It's when I see him move either from his feet to his knees or staying down and moving on his knees. He's a rock down there."
The best example of his unique movements came from the Rangers twitter account after a morning skate on Oct. 18, ahead of Shesterkin making 40 saves in a 2-1 overtime win at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Shesterkin uses his left skate almost like a rudder to push off his left post, turning with it until he is on angle to make a quick push with the toe of that left skate to get to his right post. Three days later, he used the movement to make an incredible save during a 3-1 win at the the Nashville Predators.

The way Shesterkin moves on that play and in the morning skate video allows him to stay connected throughout. Whereas a traditional butterfly push can create extra motion to gather the push skate and power across, often with the upper body and arms twisting away from the direction the goalie is moving as a counterbalance, Shesterkin is able to keep his torso upright, his hands active and engaged in front of him when he moves.
"No extra movements," said Torenius, who added that former goaltending coach partner Rashit Davydov deserves a lot of credit for his movement work with Shesterkin. "He has done a lot of work with correct footwork and tried to cut unnecessary movements away. He has nice quiet technique and is an explosive guy who moves really smooth on the ice. Really efficient."
Torenius said there isn't a special name for the move. It's simply a variation of what he called a "pivotal turn."
A lot of goalies already use a backward version of that pivotal turn to retreat back to their posts after making a save, or to reestablish position when they get caught outside of their crease. It's also not uncommon to see goalies making the forward maneuver during movement drills to warm up prior to a game. What makes Shesterkin unique is his ability to incorporate it into game play.
"He can control his movements in a really accurate way and make it look so simple, but there is a lot of work and repetitions behind it," Torenius said. "He can combine different movements together depending on what is needed."
Within days of the Rangers tweet, there were youth level goalies working on the move in practice, and McElhinney, who is now coaching goalies in Colorado, believes we'll see others emulate it in the NHL soon.
"I bet you see it more and more with some of these guys who can really skate well," McElhinney said. "To be able to do that in a practice or game and be calm like him is incredible."