Aaron Judge had an Opening Day negotiating deadline in 2022, when he was in the final year of his contract before he was eligible to become a free agent. That appears to have worked out just fine for No. 99 — perhaps the first time in a hockey column that number hasn’t referred to Wayne Gretzky — and the Yankees.

There is no reason to overreact to the news that Igor Shesterkin has set a similar deadline, as the Rangers goalkeeper is approaching the final year of his contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

This may be an attempt by Shesterkin’s side to apply extra pressure, but in reality it doesn’t change anything. The goalie has a hand. Everyone knows that. That’s not a reference to his glove hand either.

Shesterkin is set to become the highest-paid goalie in NHL history. There’s no doubt he’ll surpass the $10.5 million per year that Carey Price earned with Montreal on his eight-year contract that began with the 2018-19 season when the cap was set at $79.5 million. So in Year 1, Price ate 13.21 percent of the cap.

The Post’s Mollie Walker’s June 2 report that the goalie was asking for $12 million per month has been verified by multiple sources, and I’d be shocked if GM Chris Drury hasn’t already discussed an offer of $10.5 million to $11 million per month if numbers are exchanged. The term would presumably be seven or eight years.

But it is my information, and has been reported previously, that Shesterkin is also aiming to become the highest-paid player on the Rangers and in franchise history. That would mean he would surpass Artemi Panarin’s $11,642,857 per year on the hugely mutually beneficial contract that has two years left in it.

Twelve is a nice round number.

Twelve would represent 13.04 percent of next season’s projected $92 million salary cap.

I can tell you right now that I never bought for a second the theory that Henrik Lundqvist’s $8.5 million annual salary — which equaled 12.32 percent of the salary cap in 2014-15 — was a major factor in the Blueshirts’ failure to win the Cup during the King’s reign.

I would indeed say that signing Dan Boyle as a free agent rather than keeping Anton Stralman after the club reached the 2014 Cup final was more of a factor. Maybe that’s just me.

I also don’t quite get the new fixation on what percentage of the salary cap is devoted to goaltenders. A few weeks ago, Leon Draisaitl signed an eight-year extension for a $14 million annual salary cap. That works out to 15.91 percent of next year’s apple. Yet I don’t recall any alarm bells going off in Edmonton. And Draisaitl is the Oilers’ second-best player.

Panarin, one of the biggest free-agent signings in the history of New York professional sports, took up 13.94 percent of the salary cap last year and 14.29 percent in the first year of the deal in 2019-20. I don’t recall anyone mentioning it.

Apparently that only applies to goalkeepers.

The argument can be made that Stanley Cup champions don’t necessarily need goalies at the top of the food chain. It’s not entirely deceptive. I’ve given it some air after the Avalanche won the 2022 Cup with Darcy Kuemper and Vegas won the 2023 Cup with Adin Hill in net.

At the same time, two of the last five Cup winners have had the NHL’s most or second-most expensive active goaltender: the 2024 Panthers won with Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million each) and the 2021 Lightning won their second straight with Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million) as goalie.

Bobrovsky accounted for 12.27 percent of the cap when the contract began in 2019-20 and 11.97 percent last season. That didn’t seem to stop the Puddy Tats from building a championship roster, though.

A powerhouse team could win the Cup without an established elite goalie, but when you look at the Rangers roster, do you see a powerhouse? I don’t. I see a franchise that has historically relied on goalie. Of the 11 players the franchise has had their numbers retired, three are goalies — No. 1, Eddie Giacomin; No. 35, Mike Richter; No. 30, The King.

Drury and the Rangers will go head-to-head this summer. Alexis Lafreniere needs a new contract, and so does K’Andre Miller. Those two plus Shesterkin will total $11.864 million in salary cap space this season. That number will more than double in 2025-26. It could be $26 million. That’s the math the hierarchy is wrestling with.

Shesterkin is the Rangers’ most important player, and he’s been their best player in each of the last three playoff appearances. No one, absolutely no one, doubts his pedigree. But he hasn’t been the team’s best player during the regular season in either of the last two seasons since his 2021-22 Vezina. He’s had subpar first halves and has been a bit erratic. He should have a better regular season.

I don’t know if $12M a year is too much for the Rangers’ most important player, given the salary cap implications. But I do know it’s not an unreasonable request.

And I also believe that if Shesterkin really wants to stay in New York, the parties will make it work and they will party like it’s ’99. Don’t worry about an opening day deadline.