I've read various analyzes of why giving a goalie the kind of luxurious, long-term, cap-breaking contract that Igor Shesterkin is seeking is so risky, and they all make perfect sense.
Similarly, the Bruins' recently signed eight-year, $66 million contract with 25-year-old Jeremy Swayman (with an annual cap charge of $8.25 million) should serve as a template for goaltending. It appears that a consensus can be reached quickly.
But the problem is that none of this applies in this case. The Rangers have already crossed the Rubicon. As confirmed by the Post, owner, manager and GM Chris Drury has already spent eight years and $88 million on the team.
The Rangers aren't trying to limit Shesterkin to six years until he finishes his age-34 season. They don't give the goaltender a nickel or dime, unless they want to calculate the amount of nickels and dimes that is the total amount of the offer.
Management took a philosophical leap. Unless I'm missing something, they want their franchise's goaltender to be their franchise's goaltender. And after talking to enough people over the past few days, I believe Drury or the Rangers were not the source of the leak that led to ESPN's Kevin Weeks' offer report.
As I wrote in Wednesday's print edition, this was never Drury's style. Leaks do not benefit the team. In reality, it's not in anyone's interest. It sparks controversy right before the opening game the organization will never invite.
As for Swayman, remember that there was a deadline of December 1st. If he didn't do that, he wouldn't have been able to play in the NHL this season. Shesterkin is currently under contract, making him the team's most important player and by far the most valuable player in the past three playoffs, making him the Blueshirt's sixth-highest paid player. There is.
So far, this is about dollars. Please let me fix that. That's only about $1 for the Rangers. But if eliminating the contractual boundaries between goaltenders and position players is what Shesterkin and his camp's philosophy is about, it presents a more complicated equation for Drury.
There used to be a line drawn between contracts for forwards and defensemen, happily advanced by Boston's Raymond Burke, who prided himself on being on par with the all-powerful general manager Harry Sinden. It took the great Scott Stevens time to reset the bar via back-to-back offer sheets.
If this is true and this is a statement contract, I can't imagine Leon Draisaitl signing a contract extension with the Oilers next season. The club's second-best player will then account for 15.91 percent of the 2025-26 cap ($14 million). It has helped move things along.
Again, if the Rangers believe they can build a Cup winner around an $11 million goaltender, adding another $750,000 or $1 million to the pot could be the blueprint. There is no debate about destroying it.
At this point, if I were the Rangers, I would offer Shesterkin a contract that would make him the highest-paid player in franchise history, at $12 million each. If that's not enough, you don't have an immediately satisfying Plan B in hand, so you play the season and deal with it later.
In 2022, the Yankees will play a similar season with Aaron Judge. You play the season like the Yankees are playing with Juan Soto now.
This is what this year is like for the Rangers. They have a franchise goaltender under contract. Even if it has to wait until next year, at least the team has had plenty of practice on this.
