One of the worst kept secrets in the NHL officially became official as the New York Rangers made goaltender Igor Shesterkin the highest paid goalie in NHL history.
The deal, 8 years/$92M, will have a new AAV of $11.5M and will eclipse the previous high watermarks of Carey Price ($10.5M AAV) and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10M AAV).
“Well, clearly with the contract we just signed him to, it speaks volumes of what I think of him as a goalie, as a player, as a person,” general manager Chris Drury said. “We’re lucky to have him. We’re excited that he wanted to make the commitment to be with the Rangers for eight years. We’re excited to be able to sign him up for that. We had no interest in seeing where the market went come July 1. As a lot of our players say, and certainly I can echo their sentiments, he’s one of our best players night in and night out and we’re thrilled he’s our goalie.”
The 6-foot-1 netminder has had an uneven season thus far, sporting an 8-9-1 record this season along with a .908 save percentage and 3.05 goals-against average. The Rangers currently sit 4th in the Metropolitan Division with a 13-10-1 record, but clearly prioritized getting the deal done to perhaps relieve some of the pressure off their star net minder.
“I love the organization, I love the team, I love the fans,” Shesterkin said at training camp back in September. Previous reports indicated that the Russian goaltender rejected a massive extension offer from the club in the fall. Set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, the 28 year old was in the final year of a 4 year, $22.67M pact and wanted to ensure that his next deal would be a record setting one.
In order to free up some finances, the Blue Shirts recently traded defenceman Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Urho Vaakanainen and a 2025 4th round selection. Trouba, who was the team’s captain, was in year 6 of a 7 year deal which carried an AAV of $8M.
New York is next in action on Sunday vs. the Seattle Kraken in a 1pm ET showdown.
Photo: David. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.