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Report: Rangers willing to surpass Price’s .5M AAV for Shesterkin
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Report: Rangers willing to surpass Price’s $10.5M AAV for Shesterkin

It appears the New York Rangers are willing to make Igor Shesterkin the highest paid goaltender in the NHL.

“We believe the Rangers have informed Shesterkin’s team that they are willing to pay him more than the $10.5 million Carey Price made and is still on the books,” TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Tuesday on the early edition of “Insider Trading.”

Shesterkin has been eligible for a contract extension since July 1. He can become an unrestricted free agent next summer, when his four-year, $5.67 million-per-year contract expires.

The Montreal Canadiens signed Price to a monstrous eight-year, $84 million contract in July 2017. It went into effect during the 2018-19 season, when the salary cap was $79.5 million, so Price’s deal accounted for 13.21% of the Habs’ salary cap space at the time.

The salary cap for the 2024-25 season is $88 million and is expected to increase further the following year.

Here are Price’s stats from when he picked up the pen, compared to Shesterkin’s career numbers now:

Goalkeeper GP Registration (Reg.) Record (Play-offs) SV% GAA SO
Price 509 270-175-55 25-31 .920 2.40 39
Shesterkin 213 135-59-17 23-20 .921 2.43 15

Price had one Vezina Trophy — and one Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award — to his name when he signed his contract. Shesterkin was named the league’s best goaltender in 2022.

Shesterkin, 28, also led the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals in two of the last three postseasons and has started all 43 of New York’s playoff games since being seeded No. 1 in 2020-21.

LeBrun added that Shesterkin’s team wants to “reset the goalie market.” Three other starting goalies have signed new contracts in the past 14 months — Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Sorokin and Juuse Saros — and none of them came close to the $10 million mark.

Goalkeeper Term AAV Age at signing
Hell buy 7 years $8.5 million 30
Sorokin 8 years $8.25 million 28
Saros 8 years (from 2025-26) $7.74 million 29

“Igor Shesterkin wants to finish all three of his contracts as quickly as possible,” LeBrun said.

Reigning Stanley Cup winner Sergei Bobrovsky’s $10 million contract is the only other goalie contract with a double-digit salary cap. Two-time champion Andrei Vasilevskiy’s contract, worth an average annual value of $9.5 million, comes closest.

Reports surfaced Monday that Shesterkin is not interested in negotiating an extension when New York’s regular season begins on Oct. 9.

Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said Thursday that this coming season could be the “last chance” for the team’s current core.