According to Mollie Walker of the NY Post, Shesterkin is looking to land a contract extension that would have an average-annual-value in the 12 million dollar range. Currently, the highest paid goaltender in the NHL is Panthers netminder and countryman of Shesterkin, Sergei Bobrovsky. Carey Price carries a higher cap hit, but he is on LTIR and his career is over.
It is hard to argue that Shesterkin does not deserve it. He was clearly the Rangers best player in the playoffs, keeping the team in games they had no reason to be in and even earning several wins, stealing them from opponents that played much better. Head coach Peter Laviolette was highly complimentary of his number one netminder after the team was eliminated.
All of this would seem to indicate that Shesterkin will, in fact, be the highest paid goaltender in the NHL, at least for a little bit. He still has one year left on his current deal, but he will be eligible to sign an extension starting July 1st, and it should be a top priority for the team, so be sure to stay tuned for an announcement on that front as early as this summer.
