After Igor Shesterkin rejects Rangers’ $11 million AAV offer, what’s next?
Will the New York Rangers soon make Igor Shesterkin the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history? It’s likely, but the two sides have yet to meet in the middle, with ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reporting Tuesday that Shesterkin’s camp rejected an offer paying him $11 million annually for eight years.
Did Shesterkin really balk at that offer? And what happens next? Daily Faceoff insider Frank Seravalli joined Tyler Yaremchuk on Tuesday’s season-opening episode of Daily Faceoff Live to share fresh insights on the situation.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Igor Shesterkin is extension eligible. Kevin Weekes reporting he’s turned down a massive offer from the Rangers. What is your read on this Igor situation? Do you have any updates?
Frank Seravalli: So I can confirm that is accurate – the New York Rangers have put an eight-year, $88 million offer on the table for Igor Shesterkin, $11 million a year, fully conceding that Shesterkin is going to be the highest paid goalie in NHL history, surpassing Carey Price’s $10.5 million deal. The problem is the Shesterkin camp thinks that they can get somewhere around $12 million or more on the open market. That is probably true if he were to become a free agent next summer. Do you want to leave or do you have a good thing going in New York with a good team and a chance to win? Not to mention everything that comes with being a New York Ranger.
There are limitations. The Rangers have a set number in mind that they just, I believe, aren’t willing to exceed, and whatever that limit is or number is, I don’t know. But I don’t believe that it starts with a 12, so if Shesterkin would like to get a deal done between now and the start of the regular season – which, by the way, you’re running out of time – it’s gonna have to be a number that starts with an 11.
And for Shesterkin, I mentioned some of the interesting talking points, but are you also going to draw a line in the sand? I don’t think the Rangers view this as a hard deadline of, “Hey, we better get a deal done by Game 1 or else he’s not gonna talk again.” But we’ll see if that’s bluster or if that’s real from the Shesterkin camp about being willing to negotiate further based off of this latest offer.
You can watch the full episode here…