Terrence Lee-Imagn Images
After the New York Rangers’ 6-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night, Igor Shesterkin gave his first public sign of support toward the team’s retool.
Before Thursday night, all we heard from Shesterkin regarding Chris Drury’s letter emphasizing the Rangers’ plan to retool the roster was that he ‘didn’t read the letter, because I don’t speak English.’
It doesn’t take reading a letter to understand the state the Rangers find themselves in, and Shesterkin clearly knows that the team’s focus is on the future as opposed to the present.
The Rangers are currently in the midst of a three-game winning streak and hold a 5-1-2 record since resuming play from the Olympic break.
This recent hot stretch has been spearheaded by the team’s younger players, including Gabe Perreault, Alexis Lafrenière, and Noah Laba, along with players Drury presumably considers to be his core, which is headlined by Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, and of course, Shesterkin himself.
Shesterkin acknowledged the future for the first time in the context that building a winning foundation now will help the Rangers going into next season.
“I think it’s pretty good for our confidence in the future of course,” Shesterkin said of the Rangers’ recent resurgence. “We love how Gabe play right now. Laffy has stepped up. It’s pretty good for us.”
The 30-year-old goaltender expressed his confidence in the Rangers’ youth, as he’s been impressed with the way they’ve been able to elevate their individual games as of late.
“I knew that they were amazing,” Shesterkin said about the younger players. “They just needed time for that. Right now, they are showing everything.”
From Sullivan down to the players, everybody has been trying to avoid talking about the obvious reality that, at this point, making the playoffs is essentially impossible, and each game from here on out doesn’t hold much meaning.
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Despite the harsh reality of this season, you can’t deny that the Rangers have been playing a drastically improved brand of hockey coming out of the Olympic break, with Sullivan hoping to foster a winning attitude.
“We’re going to just try to win the one game right in front of us and see where it takes us,” Sullivan said. “We’re trying to build a team game. We’re trying to build an identity with consistent play and attention to detail.
“I think the biggest thing is we’re trying to build a team game, where everybody needs to understand what that looks like… I feel like we’re gaining traction there with the way we’re playing the game right now.”
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