The New York Rangers have used their newfound cap space relatively quickly. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the Rangers have signed goaltender Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year extension paying the netminder between $11.5M and $12M a year. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed it will be an eight-year, $92M extension for Shesterkin.
Once the deal is finalized, it will usurp Carey Price’s record-breaking eight-year, $84M extension with the Montreal Canadiens by $8M. Shesterkin and his camp have been adamant about setting the market for goaltenders, and he appears to have done just that.
New York will get Shesterkin back on a cheaper deal than Price from a certain point of view. Price’s contract accounted for 13.2% of the cap when it took effect starting in the 2018-19 season. Shesterkin’s contract, assuming the reports are accurate on an $11.5M salary, will only account for 12.4% of the cap should it rise to the reported $92.5M for the 2025-26 season.
The Moscow, Russia, native landed his desired salary despite having a depressed season compared to the rest of his career. He’s produced an 8-9-1 record in 18 starts for the Rangers with a .908 save percentage and a 3.05 goals-against average.
It’s difficult to disagree with the price point. He’s arguably been one of the league’s top netminders since the 2020-21 season, and the Rangers are now rewarding him for his efforts. He took over as the Rangers starting goaltender in the 2021-22 season, and the team has failed to miss the playoffs since.
His career records speak for themselves. Shesterkin boasts a career winning percentage of 63.2%, a .920 SV% and a 2.48 GAA over 226 career starts. The only goalie to post even similar numbers to Shesterkin through their first six seasons is fellow top netminder Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
New York’s competitive window begins and ends between the pipes with Shesterkin. He’s produced tremendous value for the Rangers over the last six campaigns and will now continue to do so for the next eight beyond this season. The eight-year extension will take Shesterkin to the 2032-33 NHL season when he will be 38 years old.
If Friday is any indication, the Rangers will be a very active team up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline. General manager Chris Drury will likely pivot toward extending his young crop of expiring talent including Kaapo Kakko, K’Andre Miller and William Cuylle over the next few weeks so the pieces are in place for the team’s future.
Still, Drury and the Rangers are focused on moving out high-priced veteran talent such as Chris Kreider to create serious change toward the top of the lineup. Earlier in the day, they also traded Jacob Trouba across the country. New York has failed to make it beyond the Eastern Conference Final since the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs despite consistently being one of the better teams throughout the regular season. Drury has been aggressive in his pursuit of retooling the roster, and all of these moves may only be the beginning.
