"Need to trade him" "Worth more than Nylander": NHL fans react as Igor Shesterkin turns down Rangers' $88M contract offer

Igor Shesterkin is poised to get a massive contract soon, potentially in free agency at the end of this season. That deal may or may not be from the New York Rangers after news emerged that the star goalie turned down an $88 million deal from the team.

They have been trying to negotiate ahead of Shesterkin's venture into free agency, which could and likely will drive up his price even further. He is widely considered one of the absolute best goalkeepers in the league, and that's going to cost some teams. Evidently, it will cost them more than $88 million.

NHL fans, and specifically Rangers fans, reacted to this news. Some believe he should be traded immediately, while others believe the price tag he's asking for is fair.

"Bro is crazy lmao wtf I wouldn’t even like that for us," another fan said.

"He's as elite as they come but goalies are weird and eating up too much cap can hurt the overall chances of winning. Igor earned his money though so you gotta pay him," one fan said.

Here are some more reactions from fans:

"Goalies getting wild to start the season!" one fan said.

"How is Igor turning this down. That would make him the highest paid goalie in history. That's a win in my book," another fan said.

Shesterkin believes he is worth more than the Rangers have yet offered. Previous reports indicated that the Rangers were fully prepared to make him the league's highest-paid goalie in the league, but they're going to have to keep going higher.

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NHL insider states Igor Shesterkin's likely price tag

Igor Shesterkin reportedly declined an $11 million AAV deal from the New York Rangers. The star goalie's asking price was always going to be quite high, and apparently, even that is not quite high enough.

Igor Shesterkin declined a major contract (Credits IMAGN)

Before Shesterkin turned this down, Pierre LeBrun detailed the situation via The Athletic:

"His next contract will be double digits AAV, to be sure, aiming for more than the $10 million average annual value Sergei Bobrovsky received from the Florida Panthers in 2019 and the $10.5 million Carey Price got from the Canadiens in 2017, the two highest goalie AAVs currently on the books in the NHL."

Even that estimate seems to have been conservative, as Shesterkin's deal did exceed Carey Price's, but he still turned it down. It looks like the Rangers might have to dig deep into their pocket books for the star goalie.