3 reasons why Rangers may regret making Igor Shesterkin highest paid NHL goalie with 8-year/$92,000,000 extension

Netminder Igor Shesterkin and the New York Rangers have agreed a massive contract extension. According to The Atheltic, Shesterkin and the Rangers settled on an eight-year, $92 million deal that will make him the highest-paid goaltender in the NHL.

While Rangers fans can exhale now, knowing that Igor Shesterkin is staying put, there's reason to believe that the Rangers may come to regret inking him to such a massive deal.

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Three reasons why New York Rangers may regret signing Igor Shesterkin to massive extension

#3 Trading Jacob Trouba to make the deal work

The biggest obstacle standing in the way between Igor Shesterkin and an extension with the Rangers was cap space. His new deal carries an AAV of $11.375 million, which necessitated clearing cap space to make it work.

As such, the Rangers were forced to move their captain Jacob Trouba out of town, and his $8 million cap hit, to fit in Shesterkin. The problem with trading Trouba the way the Rangers did was the optics surrounding the deal.

The entire situation surrounding the Trouba trade to the Anaheim Ducks made the Rangers look bad, with Trouba adding fuel to the fire on social media. Getting rid of Trouba to sign Shesterkin may come back to bite the Rangers when pursuing other free agents.

#2 Salary cap constraints

Even with Trouba’s cap hit off the books, the Rangers could still have cap problems down the road. PuckPedia shows that the Rangers have approximately $7.7 million in available cap space, which is barely enough to cover Igor Shesterkin’s new deal.

However, that space won’t be enough to add free agents or re-sign RFAs like K’Andre Miller or UFAs like Ryan Lindgren. So, the Rangers will be forced to make more moves to clear enough cap space to get the players the team needs to fill out the roster.

#1 Declining performance

Shesterkin is having a down year by his high standards. In 19 games this season, he has won nine, while posting a 2.99 GAA and a .908 SV%. Of course, the season is barely past the quarter mark, so there's still plenty of time for him to get back into form.

Nevertheless, there might be some concern, as he’s 28 and has had slight dips in career numbers. While he could still be the lights-out goaltender he has been throughout his career, there’s no telling how much longer he could produce elite-level performances.

Consequently, the back end of this contract stands to become an albatross for the Rangers. They could be saddled with a monster deal no one will want to take off their hands. Rangers fans and management will hope that Shesterkin’s numbers this season are merely a blip on the radar screen.