The New York Rangers couldn’t bring the Stanley Cup back to Broadway since they last did 30 years ago.
The Florida Panthers eliminated the Rangers from contention and just a few hours later, analysts were already clamoring for the franchise to prioritize signing their best player to a historic, long-term deal.
ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton indicated in their offseason report that “New York’s first priority should be making Igor Shesterkin the NHL’s highest-paid goalie.”
Even though New York failed to make the finals, Shesterkin kept the Rangers alive for as long as he could, putting together one of the best postseason performances across the league, including all players at both the goalie and skater positions.
In 16 playoff games, Shesterkin faced 524 shots and saved 485 of them, achieving a .926 save percentage and a 2.34 goals-against average.
According to MoneyPuck, Shesterkin’s 13.1 goals saved above expected nearly doubled the figure of the second-best goalie with 16-plus postseason games.
Igor Shesterkin Could Reset Goalie Market
Shesterkin will become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) after the 2024-25 season as he still has one year in his contract. He signed a $22.6 million deal with the Rangers in August 2021, covering four seasons, per CapFriendly.
“There’s reason to believe that Shesterkin’s camp is aiming for as high as $12 million a year,” wrote the New York Post’s Mollie Walker in a story published on June 2, “which would be an NHL record-setting cap hit for a goaltender.”
CapFriendly projects the 2024-25 salary cap to be around $87.7 million, and Shesterkin’s potential $12 million cap hit would account for approximately 13% of the team’s budget.
PuckPedia has the Rangers entering the offseason with $12.1 million in cap space, although that figure includes only 16 of the mandatory 23 players under contract.
8 Rangers Will Hit Free Agency on July 1, 2024
Rangers General Manager Chris Drury will face significant decisions in July as he will have to deal with the free agencies of eight different players.
New York has around $75.5 million already in the books for next season with just a little over $12 million left to spend to fill the vacated spots on its roster.
Among the pending free agents, three restricted free agents (RFAs) are of the utmost interest and will command a sizable amount of money if they are re-signed: Ryan Lindgren, Kaapo Kakko, and Braden Schneider.
Defenseman Lindgren’s RFA status (restricted, with arbitration rights) gives the Rangers some leverage. Even if the Rangers don’t like the money he’s awarded via arbitration (or if another franchise submits an offer sheet to sign him) they could always trade him away for a reasonable package in return.
Blueliner Schneider is a lock to sign a new deal after becoming one of the best performers in the playoffs for the Rangers.
Winger Kakko might be the most interesting player among these three, considering his pedigree as a former No. 2 pick but his lack of production. Kakko’s most productive season was in 2022–23 when he scored 40 points, but he’s coming off a 19-point season in 2024 and was scratched once in the conference finals.
Unrestricted free agents (UFAs) include Jack Roslovic, Alexander Wennberg, Blake Wheeler, Erik Gustafsson, and Chad Ruhwedel, and it’s probable all are let go by New York to open some cap room and flexibility.
Rangers Could Explore Moving on From Superstars
Perhaps most important for GM Drury and the Rangers is how they handle their current window of contention and their core pieces.
Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, and Artemi Panarin are all superstar forwards locked into contracts through the 2025-26 season at the earliest. According to PuckPedia, all of them have either full No-Move Clauses (NMC) or a modified no-trade (15 teams) clause (NTC) in the case of Kreider.
The only window still open for dealing away a top-of-the-order earner in the roster can be found in the defense corps.
Adam Fox is signed through the 2027-28 season but his $9.5 million salary in 2025 doesn’t include any clause. Fox, however, will benefit from an NMC in the two seasons after that, as well as a modified NTC in 2028. If there is a time to pounce, it’s now, although it’s questionable if New York would move on from a 26-year-old top-pair defenseman.
Jacob Trouba, however, could be on the move as he struggled to keep up with the playoff pace. He has a 15-team NTC (and a hefty $8 million salary) baked into his deal, making potential trades complicated.
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Rangers Urged to Make ‘First Priority’ Move With Igor Shesterkin