You say to me, if the Oilers go through with this and win the Cup with Stuart Skinner a year after Vegas wins with Adin Hill, would the Rangers need to pay Igor Shesterkin $12 million a year to ensure he stays in New York for the next 5-8 years?
This isn’t a Shesterkin column, I promise. I was going to write about how Connor McDavid has risen to the heights of skating in a league of his own. It’s been decades since one individual has hogged the highest tier without any room for serious debate.
Maybe it’s because Wayne Gretzky was at the top of the league in the early ’80s, and then Mario Lemieux joined “The Great One” on the elite red carpet in the late ’80s.
Up until this tournament, it was possible to fake it to some degree that Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Auston Matthews or teammate Leon Draisaitl would be in the conversation. But you can’t fake it anymore.
But back to Shesterkin: He has a ton of cash on hand as he enters the final season of his contract, and his camp is pursuing a record contract for a goaltender after setting a second NHL goaltender contract record three years ago and now earning an average annual salary of $5,666,667.
We won’t get into the stats here — there’s time for that later — but there’s a bigger issue that GM Chris Drury and ownership need to consider: The Oilers’ goaltender has a cap hit of $2.6 million. The Golden Knights’ goaltender was $2.175 million a year ago. Guess who won the year before that? That’s right, Colorado’s Darcy Kuemper, with a $4.5 million cap charge.
Now, listen: Maybe $10 million Sergei Bobrovsky will play the game of his life in Game 7 on Monday in Sunrise, Fla., and finish skating with the Cup and the Conn Smythe in hand. And you will say — and maybe I will say — “Got it!”
But the 2011 Bruins are the only team to win the Cup with a Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender in the capped era, and that goaltender would have been Tim Thomas.
There’s no reason to question Shesterkin’s value to the Rangers. Without him, the Rangers might have lost to the Panthers. But there’s a lot to consider here before management jumps headfirst into the deep end of the pool. Skinner, Hill and Kuemper will inevitably be up for discussion.
At least that’s how it should be.
The NHL and NHLPA are continuing discussions regarding the contract status of four current players who were charged with sexual assault in June 2018 and face trial at a yet to be determined date.
The Devils’ Michael McLeod and Cal Foote, the Flyers’ Carter Hart and the Flames’ Dillon Dube all turned themselves in to authorities in late January and are all on non-roster leave, but they all remain restricted free agents and are due to receive qualifying offers by June 30.
Slap Shots has been told the league initially proposed freezing players’ contracts until the legal process was complete, which would leave players in limbo but allow teams to retain their rights without eligibility.
As we’ve learned, the union, after consulting with the players’ respective representatives, initially rejected the offer but is continuing to negotiate with the league on the matter.
If the eligibility period is extended and accepted, there are obvious cap implications. If the eligibility period is not extended, there are free agency implications.
However, keep in mind that Gary Bettman has virtually unlimited power to suspend these players and grant teams cap relief under the authority granted under Article 18-A of the CBA.
A decision is required by the end of this week.
Game 7 of the Cup Final is on Monday. The Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee meets on Tuesday. The inductees are announced on Wednesday afternoon, a few hours before the NHL Awards Ceremony. Friday and Saturday is the draft. Free agency begins a week from Monday.
It’s madness right now.
The common rule for all video reviews is that if it cannot be viewed at full speed, the challenge will be denied.
We don’t see or process frame by frame, so why on earth has video review in sports gotten to a point where it’s ruining entertainment?
The excuse for endless replay is that doing it right is paramount, regardless of the indirect damage it does to the experience.
But if that’s the case, why limit the number of appeals a coach can receive? If the coach is wrong once and clearly right the second time, what’s the problem?
Oh… the game lasts for hours.
They say they want to get offside calls right, but there are probably dozens of offside violations that go unnoticed every night because who knows? There are multiple incorrect calls every night that cannot be challenged legally.
That doesn’t make sense.
Full speed replay.
It will come to a complete stop.
Not only do the Devils have goaltender Jacob Markstrom, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald still holds the 10th overall draft pick, which multiple sources say he is open to using in a trade.
The failure of Alexander Mogilny to be inducted should shame all the members of the selection committee who found an excuse not to vote for the groundbreaking Russian winger of all time. Yes, the Russian winger.
We’ll see what happens if Pavel Datsyuk doesn’t make the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Finally, weren’t CapFriendly reps allowed, per the terms of the purchase agreement, to tell Caps management that Pierre-Luc Dubois still had seven years remaining on his contract, with a cap hit of $8.5 million in annual salary?
