I have read the various analyses of why it is so risky to grant goaltenders lavish, long-term cap-busting contracts such as the one Igor Shesterkin is seeking, and they all make perfect sense.
As well, there seems to be an immediate consensus that the eight-year, $66 million deal struck recently between the Bruins and 25-year-old Jeremy Swayman that carries an annual $8.25M cap charge should serve as the template for goaltenders.
But here’s the thing: None of this applies in this case. The Rangers have already crossed the Rubicon. Ownership, management, GM Chris Drury, they have already gone to eight years and $88 million, as The Post has confirmed.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.
The Rangers are not attempting to limit the term to six years that would take Shesterkin through his age-34 season. They are not nickel-and-diming the goaltender, unless you want to tally the amount of nickels and dimes that amount to the sum of the offer.
Management has taken the philosophical leap. Unless I am missing something, they want their franchise goaltender to be their franchise goaltender. And after talking to enough folks these last couple of days I do not believe Drury or the Rangers were the source of the leak that prompted ESPN’s Kevin Weekes report of the offer.
As I wrote for Wednesday’s print edition, this has never been Drury’s style. The leak does not benefit the team. In reality, it benefits no one. It introduces controversy on the doorstep of the opener that the organization would never invite.
Regarding Swayman, remember that he had a Dec. 1 deadline with which to meet or he would not have been able to play in the NHL this season. Shesterkin is under contract, and a contract under which the team’s most important player — and best player in the last three playoffs by leaps and bounds — has been the Blueshirts’ sixth highest-paid player.
This is only about dollars, now. Let me amend that. It is only about dollars for the Rangers. But if it is about philosophy for Shesterkin and his camp to obliterate the contractual line between a goaltender and a position player, that presents a more complicated equation for Drury.
Once upon a time, there was a delineation between contracts of forwards and defensemen, happily advanced by Boston’s Raymond Bourque, who was proud to stand side-by-side with omnipotent GM Harry Sinden. It took the Great Scott Stevens to reset the bar via consecutive offer sheets.
If this is the case, if this is a statement contract, I cannot imagine Leon Draisaitl’s extension that kicks in with the Oilers next season in which the club’s second-best player will account for 15.91 percent of the 2025-26 cap ($14M) has helped move things along.
Again, if the Rangers believe they can construct a Cup winner around an $11M goaltender, there really is no argument that adding another $750,000 or $1 million into the pot would destroy the blueprint.
At this point, if I am the Rangers, I am presenting Shesterkin with a contract offer that would make him the highest-paid player per year in franchise history at $12M per. If that’s not enough, well, then you play the season because there is no palatable immediate Plan B at hand and you deal with it later.
You play the season the way the Yankees did with Aaron Judge in 2022. You play the season the way the Yankees are doing now with Juan Soto.
Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury.
This is about this year for the Rangers. They have their franchise goaltender under contract. If next year will have to wait, at least the franchise has had plenty of practice at this.
