Shesterkin: Early Hart Favourite?

Regal

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Mar 12, 2010
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Agree with the above that Kaprizov is hard to ignore right now both given his own play and how much he means to the Wild. Currently has a point on 54% of the Wild goals. I do think Shesterkin is up there, and is one of those guys who always seems to be good even if the stats aren’t as amazing as his Vezina year. Though having Panarin and Fox on the team as well probably hurts him a bit for voters.
 

Luigi Lemieux

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Sep 26, 2003
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No Shesterkin is pretty much on par with Hellebuyck so far. To win a hart as a goalie you have to dominate everyone like Hasek or Price did. That while there being no standout offensive performance. Neither is true right now.
 

SnowblindNYR

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People laughing at this are off their rocker. I do think Vezina is more appropriate for him but Igor has been the sole reason this team is over .500 right now. We came 3 shots short of 3 straight 40 shot games against him. The Rangers' defense has been comical and Igor has been a wall (with the exception of a goal here or there). Is Hellebuyck really even close to him? I can't imagine the Jets giving nearly as much in terms of shots and quality as the Rangers. The Rangers are low key a non-playoff team right now playing with an all world goalie. They were a juggernaut the first 6 games (albeit against bad teams mostly) but then we needed some #WARRIOR power and have been complete garbage ever since then.
 

Luigi Lemieux

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Sep 26, 2003
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Theodore in 2002?
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He was the weakest win though. Many thought Iginla deserved it.
 

ICanMotteBelieveIt

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Jan 11, 2013
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No Shesterkin is pretty much on par with Hellebuyck so far. To win a hart as a goalie you have to dominate everyone like Hasek or Price did. That while there being no standout offensive performance. Neither is true right now.
I'm too lazy too look up where Hellebuyck ranks but Shesterkin is ranked 2nd overall when it comes to GSAx (10.4) which is insane.
 
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SnowblindNYR

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After watching him single-handedly steal a win from my Sens, I believe Shesterkin is the sole reason the Rangers are positioned where they are in the standings, so I would vote yes, he's been that good.

It's kind of weird. Very early in the season but it's been a tale of two seasons. Soft schedule early but they went from being a team that was a juggernaut offensively and a little leaky defensively with goaltending patching some holes but not in any unreasonable way. And the second half it's basically a team that's good at nothing but goaltending and PK. So without Igor we're probably a .500 team but this is a very concerning new development. I have no idea if that's what we'll see the rest of the season. We went from the 2022 Colorado Avalenche with better goaltending to the 2024 San Jose Sharks with better goaltending.
 
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SnowblindNYR

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The only thing he's doing better than Dostal right now is playing on a better team :dunno:

Well that plays into the equation for Hart, no? Remember when Taylor Hall won because McDavid, I believe it was missed the playoffs? Plus Igor has a reputation which shouldn't factor in but always does. Also, if we're talking about RIGHT NOW I doubt anyone's playing better than Igor. Since the beginning of the year maybe Dostal is better because there were a few games when the Rangers looked like an NHL team so his GSAx isn't as impressive as it could be.
 

Goose

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Apr 18, 2006
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Great goalie, but no.

Price only won it because scoring was so low that year (Benn won the Art Ross with 87 points) and he had <2 GAA and >.930 SV% stat line, plus he was the most feared goalie in the game as per the players.

Shesterkin came close to that stat line in 21-22 and was only 3rd in Hart voting, where he was closer to 5th than 2nd in voting.

It needs to be an exceptional goaltending year combined with no real standout individual performances for a goalie to win the Hart, and it doesn't look like it's shaping up like that this year. MacK and Kuch look like they'll put up monster numbers again, and there could be a dark horse like Kaprizov who enters the race.
 

Voight

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Feb 8, 2012
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Unless every top forward in the league decides to stop scoring at their normal rates, hes a massive long shot. Goalies (and defensemen too) only win the Hart when there isn't a "good" forward option. I.e. Price won the Hart because the league leader in points had 87, in 2002 while Iggy did score 96 points, only one other player hit 90 and the Flames missed the playoffs which hurt his chances. Pronger beat Jagr by a hair in 2000 even with the advantage of playing a full season vs Jagr's 3/4 season.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Dec 8, 2013
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It’s too early to be too sure about everything, but let’s say Kaprizov scores 125 points and Igor puts up the season he had in 2021-22. It’ll also depend on how their teams do overall.

But speaking about my own team what Igor does is a lot more valuable than what Panarin does. I’m sure Panarin will score 110 points or something, but bro plays no defense, team gives up a lot of goals with him on the ice, and he plays the least valuable position in hockey. Maybe you’ll say Kaprizov is a better version of Panarin, but give me the elite goalie season over the elite scoring winger season (unless it’s like an Ovechkin 65 goal season).
 

WarriorofTime

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Jul 3, 2010
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Not unwarranted. The Rangers look like a lowkey mid team but are getting bailed out by Shesterkin.

HFBoards still be like "I wouldn't pay him more than $8 million, some rando might be just as good, idk, idc about goalies"
 

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