Shesterkin vs Vasilevsky

[Avs31]

Vas.

[BreadManPanarin]

Vasilevskiy is the safe choice. Shesterkin is the upside choice.

We know who Vasilevskiy is. He has played 340 regular season games and has a .920 career save%. He's an amazing goalie, probably the best in the league unless Shesterkin unseats him. He has never had a season with >.925 save%, but he is consistent as hell with between .917 and .925 for the last 6 straight seasons.

We still aren't sure who Shesterkin is yet. He has played 79 regular season games and has a .928 career save%, playing on a worse team.

There is no question whatsoever that Shesterkin (.939 save%, 30.7 GSAA) is outplaying Vasilevskiy (.922 save%, 13.9 GSAA) this year by a significant margin. Vasi is playing his usual hockey and Shesterkin is playing absolutely out of his mind. The question is whether Shesterkin is going to regress from here going forward or if he is just getting started. Because if Shesterkin really is able to put up a sustainable .930-ish save% over the next handful of years and the Rangers continue to improve while the Bolts presumably fade a bit, then this mostly consensus in favor of Vasilevskiy will turn into a mostly consensus in favor of Shesterkin within the next season or two.

I'll take Shesterkin.

[Puckhead]

Looking at it in terms of your scoring cats, you can certainly make a case for either and be right. Vasievskiy has the edge Wins...but most of the other cats belong to Shesterkin, and while Vasi has played 7 more games, he only has 2 more wins...Vasi has the resume, but for this trade I take Shesty!

[J0e Th0rnton]

Until Shest puts up 3 years in a row like this, Vasi. Sorry but him doing better this year is great, and its probable he will stay great, but......

The back to back cup winner on a terrific team has been the most consistent goalie in the league for the past 5 years. He's arguably more valuable than McDavid in my league.

Consistently amazing goaltending for 5 years is usually a pipedream.

[BreadManPanarin]

Shesterkin is not human. That is all.

[Smurf54]

Tough one. I don't think you'll necessarily go wrong either way.

But from my perspective, while the offer is very tempting, I'd keep Shesterkin. He's an incredible talent, and this season was one of the most dominant goaltending performances I have ever seen, dating back to Hasek's prime. All due respect to Vasilevskiy, but he has never had a season like this, and I think Shesterkin has surpassed him as the best goalie in the league. Vas still plays for the stronger team, which will likely mean more wins next year. But New York is on the rise, while we have likely already seen Tampa's best (dynasties don't last forever, especially in a cap world).

There is always a little risk taking the less proven asset. But I think Shesterkin will be to goaltending what McDavid is to skaters.

[pmorrow]

After this season it looks like Shesterkin, but with goalies you just never know. I still see this as one that could go either way for the next 2-3 years. I know I'd be happy with either. If it was a one year league and Shesterkin went before me and I took Vasilevskiy, I wouldn't say I'd be disappointed. Hard to project goalies, but both should be solid owns for a number of years.