New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was by far the Ranger's best player during their playoff run. Shesterkin posted a stingy 2.28 GAA and a spectacular .927 save percentage in the losing effort. The star Russian netminder is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season and his camp is looking for a large extension from the Rangers. There hasn't been much news leaked to the media on the details of negotiations but the one-time Vezina trophy winning goalie recently revealed that the contract negotiations have started.
The 28 year old, Shesterkin is looking to eclipse fellow countryman Artemi Panarin's $11,642.857 a year salary to become the Ranger's best paid player. Per Mollie Walker of the New York Post, Shesterkin's camp could be looking for $12M AAV on his next contract.
Shesterkin next deal could be a historic one for his position. Carey Price's eight-year deal with Montreal carries an average annual value of $10.5 million for a total value of $84 million, while Andrei Vasilevskiy's contract with the Lightning has a cap hit of $9.5 million and a total value of $76 million.
The Rangers are not afraid to allocate large dollars in the goaltending position. Henrik Lundqvist was one of the top Rangers for the entirety of his career, earning his largest payday in December 2013, signing a seven-year $59.5M ($8.5M cap hit) deal.
Shesterkin posted a 2.58 GAA and .913 save percentage last season. Over the last few seasons he has established himself as one of the best in his position and will be looking to cash in on his spectacular play.
Source: HockeyDB
POLL | ||
Would you sign Igor Shesterkin to a contract worth $12M AAV? | ||
Yes, clearly one of the best. Cap is going up | 31 | 30.4 % |
No, can't commit that much financially to him | 71 | 69.6 % |
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