Report: Shesterkin's Price Tag Keeps Going Up

With word earlier this month that New York Rangers star goaltender and pending unrestricted free agent Igor Shesterkin turned down an $88 million extension offer, with an $11 million AAV, and the associated rumor that at least $12 million annually is a firm asking price, everyone is wondering if there is a breaking point for the Rangers that they won't cross.

Apparently, the Shesterkin camp doesn't think so, as according to the latest report from Jim Biringer of rg.org, the netminder's price keeps going up, and now could potentially be at the $12.5 million mark.

Shesterkin will get whatever he wants.

That's the bottom line quote from Biringer's source, who also told him:

I think the basis of all this is if Igor Shesterkin wants $12 million, if Igor Shesterkin wants $12.5 million, he is going to get it... He's going to get it because of how important he is to the team.

The general reasoning is that the two-time All-Star goalie wants somewhere between 13-15% of the team's salary cap, which is what other top NHL superstars are getting these days.

For instance, when Carey Price set the new standard for goalies in 2017 (that still exists to this day), his $10.5M AAV was worth 13.21% of the cap when it kicked in in 2018-19. At that exact same percentage, with a $92M salary cap upcoming, Shesterkin would be looking at a $12.153M AAV.

From the sounds of it, the Russian 'keeper will accept nothing less, and based on his continued excellence, which this year sees him holding a 4-1-1 mark with a .926 save percentage and a 2.16 goals-against average, he is expected to get it from the Blueshirts.

IGOR SHESTERKIN WHAT A SAVE 😱🔥 pic.twitter.com/NjNLP8SjPw
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 25, 2024

I’ll never grow tired of watching Igor Shesterkin do this, which makes me better than Cale Makar. #NYR pic.twitter.com/f30eHtz20x
— Snark Messier (@NYRFanatic) October 20, 2024