If Igor Shesterkin is the NHL’s top goaltender, will he be paid like one?

It was a few weeks ago that Boston Bruins President Cam Neely dropped the now-infamous “$64 million reasons” line that rocked the hockey world.

While it was among the most polarizing comments made by a league executive in recent memory, there is no denying that it expedited the contract negotiations between the Bruins and goaltender Jeremy Swayman.

Coming to terms on an eight-year, $66 million contract a few days before the season started, my first reaction was, “If this was the contract all along, what was the big deal?”

Given the recent contract extensions handed out to goaltenders like Connor Hellebuyck and Ilya Sorokin, it always felt like an AAV in the $8 million range (give or take) was where Swayman would land. The contract came in the “meeting in the middle” range but, if I had to give either side the slight advantage, I’d lean slightly towards the Bruins. 

Why was my initial reaction to lean in the Bruins’ favor? A combination of Swayman’s age (25) and having cost certainty on a (projected) long-term, starting goaltender at $8.25 million well into his 30s. Coupled with the salary cap likely to be knocking on the door of $100 million in a few years time, this seemed like Neely’s comments had helped push things over the finish line, with the slight “win” going in the team’s favor. 

However, when asking around the NHL about this, the answers I got were not quite the same as my initial reaction.

While most agreed the deal was more or less a fair landing spot for all parties, there was more than one person who suggested the Swayman camp came out on the better side. Speaking with one agent, the deal was described as “terrific” for Swayman, going on to say that holding out worked out for the player.

Another agent was more liberal in his response but did say he always expected Swayman to get close to $8.5 million; “Bruins must have really dug in,” he went on to say.

Taking the player’s side is typical when speaking with agents, but a team executive gave the most intense, pro-Swayman responses regarding the contract. 

“A lot to pay for a goalie,” one executive said. This particular executive believed this was a result of the Bruins not locking Swayman up long-term last year and that the Bruins had backed themselves into a corner by not doing so.

Given the recent goaltender contracts given out to Connor Hellebuyck, Jusse Saros and Ilya Sorokin, I figured Swayman’s deal was par for the course. But, given his age and his platoon system alongside former Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark for the last number of years, I could see why some team executives feel like this was too rich of a price to pay for someone like Swayman.

But after the Igor Sheshterkin news that ESPN’s Kevin Weekes broke last week, it appears that there is a belief across the league that goaltenders may not be as (monetarily) valuable as they may think they are.

Sheshterkin turned down an eight-year, $88 million contract from the New York Rangers. In a deal that would’ve made him the highest-paid goaltender in the NHL and that’d surpass Carey Price’s deal as the most expensive goalie contract in NHL history, the news (justifiably) took the NHL by storm.

Polling five team executives, the answer was unanimous regarding Shesterkin: he’s the league’s best goaltender in all of their eyes. One even mentioned that his team’s goaltending department feels the same way. If Shesterkin is widely regarded as the best at his position, should he not be in line for a top-flight payday like his forward and defensive compatriots?

The reasoning I got as to why he shouldn’t get more than the $11 million AAV the Rangers offered caught me off guard – but I’d be lying if it didn’t make perfect sense.

One executive pointed out the games played by the modern-day goaltender. The days of 65-70 game starters have gone the way of the dinosaurs; even if your goaltender is your best player, he’s still not playing in (roughly) a third of your games. Every GM is trying to keep salary numbers down where they can, so if you need to invest in a formidable backup to play 25-35 games, the money has to come from somewhere.

Another executive thought the deal was fair for Shesterkin, but went on to say that, while the goaltender is the best at his position, he is not that far ahead of the pack than his compatriots. This particular sentiment was echoed by another executive, who furthered the point by posing the question, “Is he $3-6 million better than the other” top goaltenders, even if Shesterkin is a tier above.

Not including Carey Price, who will never play in the NHL again, the highest-paid goaltenders (in this order) are Sergei Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Hellebuyck, with Sorokin and Swayman tied at $8.25 million. With the exception of Bobrovsky – he is set to become an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2026 – all of the aforementioned goaltenders are under contract for at least four more years. As one executive pointed out to me, at what age will Shesterkin become average or worse?

There is no disputing that Shesterkin is viewed as the best goaltender in the NHL, but the consensus belief is that goaltenders, as a whole, are not valued as much as defensemen and, more specifically, forwards. But can you cheap out on your goaltending?

There was once a thought process that you couldn’t win with your goaltender as your highest-paid player. The Tampa Bay Lightning debunked that theory in 2020. It has happened twice since – once again with the Lightning in 2021, and mere months ago with the Panthers. 

Conversely, no rule says you must have a large financial investment in your goaltender. As with a lot of things, there is nuance. 

The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights won Stanley Cups with Darcy Kuemper and Adin Hill, respectfully, between the pipes; both happened in the last three years. I would consider both as “good but not great” goaltenders, with their then-salaries being indicative of that. 

In 2019, the Blues were backstopped by Jordan Binnington – who, ironically, started the year with the AHL’s Providence Bruins – to a Stanley Cup. His cap-hit at the time was $650,000 (per Puckpedia), which is less than the league minimum nowadays. 

So what does this all tell us?

In the last six seasons, half of the Stanley Cup winners paid their goaltender the highest of any player on the roster. The timeline may seem a touch arbitrary, but with the NHL’s financial landscape changing during the 2019-20 season due to the pandemic, it seems appropriate.

The conclusion I take away from this is that, while it isn’t an absolute either way, you don’t have to invest major dollars into your starting netminder to win a Stanley Cup. Does it help? Of course, but it isn’t a necessity. 

With sports science being what it is and goaltenders playing less games than ever, I don’t get the sense that the salaries for those who tend the crease will keep pace with their teammates. Fair or not, the position is not one that (at least several) executives feel as one to heavily invest into. 

How the chips fall with Shesterkin will certainly lay the foundation for how the position gets paid for the foreseeable future, but I struggle to see a world where goaltenders’ salaries are comparable to those of the top forwards and defensemen.