TORONTO — Cam Talbot was at camp in the fall of 2014, preparing for his second season as backup to Henrik Lundqvist after having made a splash as a 26-year-old rookie the previous season.
Months earlier, the Rangers had spent a fourth-round draft choice, the 118th overall, on a goaltender out of Russia named Igor Shesterkin.
“I don’t think his name ever came up back then,” Talbot said here at Thursday’s All-Star media day. “I don’t remember hearing about him at all.”
It would be another five years before Shesterkin ditched his native Russia and the KHL to make the move to North America. Everyone knows Shesterkin’s name now as he represents the Rangers at this midseason extravaganza for the second consecutive season.
Cheers!
(Well, not quite as many as No. 31 would have preferred thus far this season.)
“When I was in Russia before I came here, I always watched the NHL,” Shesterkin said. “To play even one game in the NHL is something to be proud of, so I know how special it is to be part of this game.
“It is an honor for me.”
If Lundqvist had not existed, the panorama of Rangers goaltending over the last decade would be on display here this weekend.
There is Talbot, an All-Star for the first time at age 36, who picked up the shield when the King went down for seven weeks during the 2014-15 season after being struck by a shot in the throat.
There is Shesterkin, who succeeded Lundqvist as No. 1 almost immediately upon being summoned from Hartford the first week of January 2020.
And there is Alex Georgiev, the netminder who kind of got caught in the middle between Lundqvist and Shesterkin before he was sent to Colorado following the 2021-22 season after a couple of very unhappy seasons as backup.
You know the most interesting thing about this? Not one of the three is having a particularly starry-sized season. Talbot had a terrific first three months but came into the break with a 10-game winless streak (0-7-3) and has only 14 wins in 31 starts.
Shesterkin, you know about how much of a struggle this has been. And while playing for the powerful Avalanche, Georgiev’s save percentage of .898 is actually .001 behind Shesterkin’s number, if you can believe that.
But they’re All-Stars, just as Lundqvist was five times and Eddie Giacomin was six times. You know when All-Star goaltending nirvana hit New York? It was 1971 and 1973 when Giacomin and Gilles Villemure were the two goaltenders representing the Eastern Conference in those two All-Star games.
Talbot went 33-15-5 with a .931 save percentage and 2.00 GAA in his two seasons on Broadway to establish himself as the best of Lundqvist’s backups. But the Rangers moved him after the conference finals loss to Tampa Bay instead of bringing him back as the No. 2 after he had gone 16-4-3 in the Swede’s absence.
“I think I could have been content as Hank’s backup but as a competitor you always want the opportunity to be No. 1 and that’s what I wanted. I wanted my own net,” Talbot said. “If that was going to happen, great, and if it didn’t happen, I would have had no problem going back to the Rangers and learning another year under Hank and [coach] Benny Allaire.
“Those two months [where Lundqvist was injured] definitely accelerated my career. I was signed for another year to continue to be his backup, but obviously teams took notice that I could play more than once every couple of weeks and was able to carry the mail.”
Glen Sather, the GM at the time, probably overplayed his hand at the draft while holding an auction for Talbot. Buffalo was in. Calgary was in. Florida was in. Then they were out, with Talbot going to Edmonton in exchange for a second- and third-rounder. Neither was a substantive pick.
Seven years later, Georgiev was not quite the object of affection Talbot had been when he was on the market. Indeed, GM Chris Drury was attempting to move a depressed asset after a pair of difficult seasons in which Georgiev felt he’d been unfairly overlooked while Shesterkin was given the keys to the kingdom.
“Igor and I are both professionals and that was the situation, but we have a good relationship,” Georgiev said. “I didn’t just think I could be a No. 1, I knew I could be a No. 1 in the NHL. It was just a matter of getting the chance.
“I don’t think I got that opportunity with the Rangers. It was tough mentally and it affected my game. But I am not looking in the past, only the future.”
Drury was able to acquire two third-rounders and a fifth for the undrafted Bulgarian netminder from the Avalanche and was able to use one of the picks to move up and select B.C. defenseman Drew Fortescue 90th overall last season.
The Blueshirts have a royal goaltending tree that features Davey Kerr, Chuck Rayner, Sugar Jim Henry, Gump Worsley, Giacomin, John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Richter and Lundqvist.
This weekend, there are Talbot, Georgiev and Shesterkin.
