The New York Rangers have had a lot of storylines throughout the season, and we haven't even hit Christmas. Now, the biggest storyline has reached it's end: Star goaltender Igor Shesterkin has signed his new contract, an eight-year, $92 million deal that has Shesterkin earning a total of $11.5 a season. That makes him the highest paid goaltender in the NHL by a wide margin. Carry Price was the highest paid at $10.5 a year before Shesterkin agreed to this contract.
The signing comes after the Rangers traded captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks (more on that in a later article). The Ducks took the full brunt of Trouba's contract that the Rangers owed Trouba, opening up space for Shesterkin's new contract. The Trouba trade wasn't done just to sign Shesterkin, but general manager Chris Drury no doubt felt more comfortable signing Shesterkin to the contract after Trouba was gone, based on how quickly the deal was announced after Trouba was traded.
What does this mean for the Rangers?
For starters, this doesn't allow Shesterkin to potentially sign a contract or negoitate with other teams, given that he is in the last year of his current contract. With how the Rangers have been playing as of late, that could've ended poorly for New York. Other teams that have brighter futures than the Rangers could've taken away their best player. Now, the superstar is locked up. Shesterkin is a massive part of this teams future, and having him penciled in for the next eight years at least is nothing but a good thing.
However, this contract carries plenty of risk for the Rangers. With a contract that is filling up this much of the Rangers cap space, New York will have a difficult time surrounding Shesterkin with talent. With the large contracts of players such as Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, cap space is at a premium for them. So, Drury will need to find a way to get good players on deals with low money. They do have several young prospects that will make an impact in the future. Some have even been making an impact now. Victor Mancini has played several games for the Rangers this season, and he's been solid. With Trouba gone, Mancini is expected to pick up a lot more minutes. Brett Berard is a potential top six forward that has played a few games this year. While he is currently dealing with an upper-body injury, he showed some ability in the limited time he has been on the ice. If the Blueshirts move on from other forwards before the trade deadline, he could see even more time. Other rookies like Gabe Perrreault, who the Rangers drafted 23rd overall last season and Brennan Othmann, who saw some time with the Rangers last season, could be impact players as well.
The Rangers have a brighter future with a goaltender like Shesterkin in net. As risky as it is to pay a goalie this much money, the Russian netminder is worth that and more. New York has its work cut out for them this season, but also in the future.