TEAM NOTES
SHESTY’S SAVES
Igor Shesterkin scored the first ever goal by a goaltender in franchise history on Oct. 1 and became the 18th goaltender in NHL history to do so. His goal was the 21st goal scored by a goaltender in league history.
On Oct. 1, he earned his 100th career win at home and became the fourth-fastest Rangers goaltender to earn 100 career home wins in franchise history (177 GP), behind Mike Richter (172 GP), Eddie Giacomin (173 GP) and Henrik Lundqvist (176 GP). Shesterkin’s 188 career wins since 2019-20 rank fifth among all NHL goaltenders.
Shesterkin allowed one or fewer goals for the 94th time in his career on Oct. 1, ranking third among all NHL goaltenders in that time span. His 94 games rank sixth all-time in Rangers franchise history. Since 2021-22, his 82 games allowing one or fewer goals rank second in the NHL.
MIKA MAGIC
On Oct. 1, Mika Zibanejad scored the first goal in the Rangers’ home opener. It was his 60th time having scored the first goal in a game for New York, surpassing Chris Kreider (59) for the second-most instances in franchise history, following Rod Gilbert (72).
Zibanejad set the franchise record for the most power play goals (124) in 2025-26 and became the first active player to lead an Original Six franchise in power play goals. On Oct. 1, he scored his 137th career power play goal and his 121st since the 2017-18 season, surpassing David Pastrnak for the third-most power play goals in the NHL in that span. His 237 power play points rank ninth among all NHL skaters in that span, as well.
MILLER TIME
Going into his second year as captain of the Rangers, J.T. Miller notched his fifth consecutive 50+ point season in 2025-26 and appeared in his 900th career NHL game on Dec. 7. Among all Rangers skaters last season, he ranked third in faceoff wins (547), fourth in hits (123) and fifth in goals and assists.
Last season, he notched a career-high 61.5 faceoff win percentage and ranked third in the NHL among all skaters with at least 500 faceoffs taken. Since the 2024-25 season, his 59.8 faceoff win percentage also ranks third among all skaters with at least 1,000 faceoffs taken.
Since the 2021-22 season, he is the only NHL player with 400+ points and 700+ hits. In that same time frame, his 267 assists rank 13th in the NHL.
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Adam Fox notched his 76th career multi-assist game as a Ranger on Oct. 1, surpassing James Patrick and tying Ron Greschner for the second-most multi-assist games by a defenseman in franchise history. He also tied Greschner and Mika Zibanejad for the eighth-most multi-assist games among all skaters in franchise history.
Among all NHL defensemen since 2019-20, his 76 multi-assist games rank third. In that same span, his 108 multi-point games rank third among all NHL blueliners.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Alberts Smits, drafted fifth overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft and the highest-drafted Latvian player in NHL history, made his NHL debut with the Rangers on Sep. 29. He became the fifth Rangers rookie in 30 years to make his NHL debut on opening night of the same season he was drafted. He also became the first Rangers defenseman in franchise history to debut at age 18 or younger on opening night.
Smits was awarded the 2026 Lars-Erik Sjoberg award, presented annually since 1988 to the top rookie in camp as selected by the media.
This summer, the Blueshirts acquired forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand, Pavel Dorofeyev, Eeli Tolvanen and Joseph Veleno, defensemen Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson, and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.
Among all players on a new team to start the 2026-27 season:
- Bjorkstrand’s nine power play goals last season ranked third, behind teammate Pavel Dorofeyev and Darren Raddysh.
- Dorofeyev’s 37 goals last season ranked first and was one of 12 NHL players with 35+ goals in each of his last two seasons.
- Durzi’s 0.45 points per game ranked fourth among defensemen, behind Darren Raddysh, John Carlson and Bowen Byram.
- Pettersson’s 21:27 average time on ice ranked fifth, behind John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, Darren Raddysh and Bowen Byram.
