Don La Greca is all for New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin landing as much cash as possible when he signs his next contract. But there was a warning within the message from the popular ESPN Radio New York talk show host when he guested on the Rink Rap podcast presented by Forever Blueshirts this week.
Leave some money on the table so that the Rangers can build a championship-caliber team around you.
“He’s gotta’ be careful, good for you, get what you can get — get your bag as they say — but it can’t come at the expense of having bushers in front of him that aren’t going to be able to get the job done,” La Greca explained when discussing Shesterkin’s pending free agency and next contract.
That’s certainly not the case now. The Rangers are stacked in front of their elite 28-year-old goalie. There’s plenty of high-priced, high-end talent from wing Artemi Panarin to defenseman Adam Fox. From veteran Chris Kreider to young stud Alexis Lafreniere. And Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Filip Chytil down the middle.
Expensive key pieces right now all in place.
But what happens when Shesterkin eventually agrees to a massive contract extension? He’s aiming to be the highest-paid goalie in NHL history, so more than the $10.5 Carey Price makes annually. And more than the $11 million AAV the Rangers offered and Shesterkin already rejected. So, now we’re talking at least $12 million per season. Perhaps as much as $13 million annually on an eight-year contract.
Shesterkin is a bargain at present, making $5.67 million a season. The whole equation gets messy when he blows the goalie market out of the water.
The Rangers were down this road before with Henrik Lundqvist taking up a big percentage of their salary cap in the previous decade. La Greca believes this is a lesson for both the Rangers and Shesterkin to learn from.
“We had Henrik Lundqvist on the [Michael Kay Show] and he said goaltenders don’t get paid for Cups, they get paid for consistency. And I thought that was interesting,” La Greca said. “If you’re thinking that way, then that box is going to be checked for the length of (Shesterkin’s) contract. When the Rangers had Lundqvist, the Rangers knew the one problem we don’t have is in goal. Now, that’s a nice problem to have solved.
“But at the same time, even though the [salary] cap is likely to go up, significantly likely, you’ve gotta’ have guys in front of you. You just do. And Hank never won. He waltzed into the Hall of Fame as the greatest goaltender the Rangers ever had and he’s got one Stanley Cup Final appearance and no Cups.”
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Consistency is great. Championships are better.
Though Lundqvist did play with some very good players, the Rangers contended for years on end but never were good enough to win it all. Shesterkin has a better supporting cast, though yet to win the Stanley Cup either. But what happens if that supporting cast is not as good because the goalie is eating up more of the cap space?
It’s an endless loop for debate.
“I don’t envy Chris Drury,” La Greca said about the Rangers general manager trying to navigate a tight salary cap next season and beyond.
Drury did recently tie up Lafreniere long term. But there won’t be a lot of space to build out the team next season — assuming the Rangers sign Shesterkin to a massive deal.
Of course the alternative to Shesterkin’s massive extension is not re-signing the all-world goalie. That’d appear to be a no-go for Drury and Co.
“It’s with the Rangers. And if he wants 12 (million dollars), it’s 12,” La Greca said.
Make sure to check out everything else Donny Pucks had to say by watching the full podcast here on the Forever Blueshirts YouTube page.
