After winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the New York Rangers failed to make the Stanley Cup Final this year. New York fell to the Florida Panthers in six games, but it should not have even gotten to six games. The only reason it did was because of Igor Shesterkin
New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury has many questions about his hockey club this offseason after re-signing Kaapo Kakko to his qualifying offer of $2.4 million and putting Barclay Goodrow, all eyes are on what he does with his goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who is eligible for a contract extension on July 1.
Shesterkin is in the final year of his current four-year deal, worth $22.667 million and has a salary cap hit of $5.667 million. He will get a pay raise and deserve one after his performance in the playoffs.
Before going into what he could make, let’s look at why he could be the highest-paid goalie in the NHL. Arguably, Shesterkin was the best player for his team. There is an argument to be made that he was the best player in the Eastern Conference Final between the Panthers and Rangers. From the minute the puck dropped in the playoffs, Shesterkin wanted to prove last year was an anomaly.
While the Rangers offence was electric through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there were times when it felt like we saw Henrik Lundqvist 2.0, as the Rangers relied too much on Shesterkin. That was evident in the Eastern Conference Final.
New York was outshot 34-24 in Game 6 and 202-151 in the series against Florida. In addition, the Panthers had a 468-372 advantage in shot attempts in the series. Shesterkin was brilliant, and he had to be, as Florida was coming in waves. But this has been a trend for the Rangers in the playoffs. They rely on their goaltender and try to find one or two goals to win the hockey game.
You could see the Rangers relying more on Igor Shesterkin as the Carolina series dragged on. That series could have gone seven if it was not for Chris Kreider‘s hat trick, but once the Eastern Conference Final started, it was all about Shesterkin.
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The question for Chris Drury is what Shesterkin could be the amount of his next contract. Based on his playoff performance, he could get over $10.5 million. There are reports he wants $12 million, and the negotiations will probably start there.
Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens makes the most with a $10.5 million AAV, followed by Sergei Bobrovsky at $10 million AAV. After that, it is Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has an AAV of $9.5 million. The belief is that contract negotiations will begin around $10 million and could increase.
Shesterkin put up great numbers in the playoffs with a 2.34 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage, and 10 wins in 16 games. In the regular season, Shesterkin was shaky early on but picked up late with a record of 36-17-2 in 55 games with a 2.58 GAA and a .913 save percentage. There is a reason he is considered one of the best goalies in the NHL.
If Juuse Saros‘s contract negotiations go the way everyone thinks they will, Saros will earn around $8.5 million on an AAV on an eight-year deal. Shesterkin has proven to be a better goalie.
Granted, paying goalies on a long-term contract is not ideal, but there are exceptions. Shesterkin is one of those exceptions. Considering his workload and performance, he is worth a double-digit AAV.
The New York Rangers did it once with Henrik Lundqvist and will do it again with Igor Shesterkin. New York relies on him too much and in the end it will cost them.
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