NHL Rumor Mill – September 24, 2024
In today’s NHL Rumor Mill: the latest on Igor Shesterkin’s contract talks with the Rangers and speculation over whether we’ll see an increase in offer sheets.
THE ATHLETIC: Arthur Staple and Peter Baugh report sources claiming Igor Shesterkin’s contract talks with the New York Rangers will be shelved if there’s no deal in place once the 2024-25 regular season begins next month. The Rangers kick off the campaign in Pittsburgh on Oct. 9.
Shesterkin, 28, is in the final season of his four-year contract with an average annual value of $5.666 million. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July.

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (NHL Images).
Those sources also said the two sides were “not remotely close” in negotiations. There’s a risk that things could spill over into next offseason.
NEW YORK POST: Mollie Walker reports Shesterkin declined to comment about the status of his contract talks, preferring to keep his focus on the upcoming season. Nevertheless, she cited sources confirming those negotiations could be put on hold if a deal isn’t in place by Oct. 9.
Walker also confirmed via industry sources that the Shesterkin camp is aiming for an average annual value of $12 million on his next contract. That would make him the highest-paid goaltender in the league.
The longer Shesterkin remains unsigned, the more precarious the situation becomes for the Rangers. They’ll face competition from other clubs who can afford to pay the former Vezina Trophy winner what he wants.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Rangers need Shesterkin to keep their Stanley Cup window open. There aren’t many suitable replacements via next summer’s trade or free-agent market.
Shesterkin’s departure would mean a shift into a transition phase for the Blueshirts. That could lead to veterans like Jacob Trouba, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider getting peddled in the trade market.
Trouba is the most likely to be traded now that he has a 15-team no-trade list this season and a 12-team list for next season. Kreider has a 15-team no-trade list. Panarin would have to waive his no-movement clause and he carries a hefty $11.6 million cap hit.
THE ATHLETIC: Pierre LeBrun wondered if the St. Louis Blues successful signings of former Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg and winger Dylan Holloway could lead to an increase in offer sheets.
LeBrun spoke with several NHL general managers and player agents who offered up mixed views on the subject. He believes that a well-respected general manager like the Blues’ Doug Armstrong signing Broberg and Holloway could open the door a crack to future offer sheets. LeBrun also noted the lack of rancor from the Oilers in response to those signings.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Offer sheets have been part of the CBA for decades. They remain a rarely used tactic because teams often matched, making it a futile exercise.
The Broberg and Holloway signings were unique as it was the first time a team successfully signed away two players from the same team simultaneously. The Oilers’ frenzy of signings earlier in the offseason left them lacking sufficient cap space to match those offers.
There could be what LeBrun suggested as an “uptick” in offer sheet signings going forward. However, it’s still up to the player to decide if they want to sign them. History shows most usually don’t, which is another reason why they rarely occur.
Shesterkin highest paid goalie in league history’ ? Even though he is fantastic I would be cautious throwing around $12m. I can’t help but think of Carey Price . Is he better than Vasilevskiy ? At least Bob was in the final and has won a cup. What dollars does that leave for a decent backup ?
12 mil for a goalie. Ouch. If true I would be working a trade somewhere if I was GM
Not a whole lot, that’s for sure. a few weeks ago I posted the current status of each team’s cap % spending on their goaltending (backups included) (not counting Lehner in Vegas or Price in Montreal) and for Boston, not counting Swayman but, rather, Korpisalo and either Bussi or DiPietro.
The league average works out to 7.4 % of the cap, with these 17 teams ranging from that average up:
Florida 16.5%; NYI 12.5%; Winnipeg 11.8%; Tampa 11.8%; Detroit 9.3%; Pittsburgh 9%; Ottawa 8.8%; Chicago 8.6%; Anaheim 8.2%; Seattle 8.1%; Los Angeles 8%; NYR 7.9%; St. Louis 7.7%;
Vegas 7.6%; Buffalo 7.6%; San Jose 7.6%; Nashville 7.4%
These 15 sit somewhere below the league average as follows: Columbus 7.2%; Minnesota 7.1%; New Jersey 6.9%; Vancouver 6.7%; Carolina 6.1%; Dallas 5.7%; Utah 5.3%; Philadelphia 4.9%; Colorado 4.8%; Montreal 4.6%; Boston 4.3%; Edmonton 4.1%; Toronto 3.7%; Calgary 3.5%; Washington 2.1%
If Shesterkin did get $12 mil per starting next season and they, say, re-sign Quick at $1,275,000, with the projected cap for 2025-26 being $92 mil. they’d jump from their current 7.9% to 15 %.
Looking at Boston, if, for example, they got Swayman to agree to $8.5 per for this coming season, combined with Korpisalo’s $3 mil per that would vault them to 13.1% of the cap – just back of Florida.
Considering the MO of NYR is usually to throw big dollars at star UFAs, I don’t see how they commit $12 million to Igor, although, what options do they really have? You can’t let the best goalie (imo) in the league walk.
PaJaDa, I don’t see how they pay a tender $12M either. I also don’t see how another team does it, for the same reasons. Have to think the only teams that would pay him the big money would be teams that think they are a high end tender away from a good chance at winning a cup. How many of those teams have an extra $12M in cap space?
Both Price and Bob’s contracts were viewed as mistakes a year or so after they were signed. Even Vassy has had his struggles, at least compared to his dominant years.
I would put the over under at $9.5M for the max the Rags offer, and let him test the market if he decides he wants to.
You’re right it’s a tough call, but if it was me, that’s what I would do.
I also think Swayman will sit until he lowers his demands. Or they agree on a bridge.
I don’t think GM’s view tenders the same way they used too. The position is too volatile and team defense has a huge impact on on a goalies stats/performance.
And there you state the crux of the matter in a nutshell, Ray – “Have to think the only teams that would pay him the big money would be teams that think they are a high end tender away from a good chance at winning a cup. How many of those teams have an extra $12M in cap space?”
In a nutshell, there wouldn’t be any. Nor is he apt to sign – even at that amount – with a re-building team even if one might be willing to toss a large % of their available cap space towards a goalie who, on his own, isn’t going to turn them into an instant winner.
Some point to the cap starting to rise annually at or above the rate it did pre-Covid as the catalyst for tossing big bucks at a goalie, but even if that is so, how much are we looking at annually? This season the cao is $88 mil. The projected cap for 2025-26 is $92 mil – a rise of $4 mil. Even completing a roster with double that will continue to be a problem for teams who have to meet the rising demand of their better RFAs (hello Swayman), not to mention coming up with the $ to retain a UFA they desperately want to keep around.
George O do you think Sweeney would have considered holding on to Ullmark and trading Swayman! Bring in an inexpensive back up and Boston after getting a descent return on Swayman may be in much better shape!
Sr, if I had to guess what Sweeney was thinking, after perhaps deciding it would be wise to get one or the other locked up at a reasonable cap long-term, he chose Swayman simply because he doesn’t turn 26 until November while Ullmark is 31.
offer sheets
Pierre LeBrun wondered if the St. Louis Blues successful signings of Edmonton Oilers Broberg and Holloway
could lead to an increase in offer sheets?
As the cap has gone up quite a bit over the past couple of years and $4.M next year to $92.M
compensation draft picks should also be reviewed when a player get’s offer sheeted…❓
I guess thats a CBA thing in 2 seasons…
I would prefer to do a 3 year @$12M than a 8 year at $9.5M if I were the GM of the rangers.
I think the amount he gets depends of Lafreniere’s next contract.
Re; Goaltenders
I think the cap max for a goaltender who has NOT won the cup is tops $9.M for a Igor Shesterkin from the Rangers, his curent deal is $5.6M
He is 29 yrs old in December, he could get an 8 yr deal from NYR. that would take him to 37 yrs old
Or go somewhere else for 7 years, But i cant see any one paying him more than NYR..❓
i think Swayman ends up doing a bridge deal for X.. years
if he cant get a deal done for 8 years with Boston
Or
1 one year deal to get him into the NHL this year,
if he is not signed this year he asks for a trade out of boston bye late November…….⁉️
To compare to Bobrovsky. He just turned 36 and has this season and next left on deal he signed in 2019. If Igor were to sign for 8 years, he’ll be 37 when deal ends, same as Bob, who just won a cup. I don’t think age is an issue and the longer the deal the better the cap hit. 12 mil per compared to a deal of 10mil per that was signed 5 years ago isn’t unreasonable for arguably the best goalie in league.
Ya winning the cup makes it easier to rationalize a $10M contract to a tender who has been average, at best, for the term of the deal. Heck they started someone else to start the playoffs the year before.
IMO he wasn’t the reason they won the cup, nor is it fair to say they won the cup in spite of him. He was good, not great. Stood on his head and stole a game or 2 in the final, also wasn’t very good as Edmonton got back into the series and took it to game 7. Until the final, FLA didn’t really need great tending, just good. To his credit he gave them that.
My point kind of is, Bob was the best goalie on the league for 2-3 years during his time at CLB. Then he wasn’t, kinda how it is for most goalies. Shesterkin has arguably been the best for the last 3 combined, I would question how reasonable it is to expect he will continue to be. Sure doesn’t seem to be the history for the position.
Puts the Rags in a tough spot if he wants $12M, hard decision.
How about a 5 year deal for $60M at 10-11-12-13-14? That averages out to 12 per year and can be absorbed as the cap increases. If the Rangers let him walk or trade him they will have one very angry fan base to deal with. On the other-hand if they sign him to a contract like this, they will have an over paid goalie to deal with for the next few years. I don’t think we have much of a choice. There is no one in the pipes or in the league to replace him!!
What StLouis did is what reporters and fans have been saying for years, forget offer sheeting the stars, go after the cheap ones, in form of pick compensation.
As for Shesterkin I dont know, he is a top 3 tender in the league. But an 8 year deal gets him to 37 and its not as if he hasnt had his injury problems. There is also the problem of your 1A not playing 65-70 games anymore, more like 60, and that means you have to have a pretty good 1B option not in the least because your 1A might get injured. I can see NYR paying +10 but not more and like people here says, what team that he wants to play for pays more? and thats on a 7 year deal.
Daily Face off posted E.Kane out 5 months. Not that good a math but that is 20 weeks . I was suggesting all along 14-16 weeks and getting some push back
Now it is confirmed. Pulling a Vegas.
“Pulling a Vegas”? Kane hasn’t been placed on LTIR. In fact, the Oilers would prefer keeping him off LTIR as much as possible. They can’t accrue cap space once he goes on LTIR.
If he’s out five to six months that means the latest he’ll return is mid-March. That wouldn’t help the Oilers “pulling a Vegas” because they must be cap compliant when he returns to action.
Pulling a Vegas refers to the fact he could have had that surgery at least 3 months ago. Listening to his interview he was actually first hurt in October . The injury got worse from there . Sat out the finals and games prior to that. Not believing the rehab first thing with that injury as described -6 individual procedures . All I am saying is the scheduling was very convenient . We will see him in April . In regards to the Oil accruing cap. Only if they remain as healthy as last year. That strategy could change by Canadian Thanksgiving