Rangers were among ‘options’ for KHL star Maxim Shabanov before signing with rival Islanders
The agent for KHL star Maxim Shabanov said that the New York Rangers were among the NHL teams in on the free-agent forward until he signed with the Islanders on Wednesday.
“There were a lot of options,” Shabanov’s agent, Alexander Chernykh, told RG.com. “Utah really wanted him. So did Philadelphia, Vegas, Boston, the Rangers. So many teams. Some clubs even lost patience because the decision took a while. We were getting five or six calls a day.”
Shabanov signed a one-year, entry-level contract worth $975,000 with the Islanders. There’s also the chance for the highly-skilled forward to earn up to $3.5 million in performance bonuses, per PuckPedia.
Last season, the 24-year-old had a career-high 67 points (23 goals, 44 assists) in 65 games, third most in the league. He helped Traktor reach the Gagarin Cup Final, where they lost in five games to Lokomotiv. Shabanov led the KHL with 10 postseason goals and finished second with 20 points in 21 games.
There’s much there to have intrigued the Rangers, who could surely use another scoring threat on the wing. With a pair of Russian stars already on the roster — Igor Shesterkin and Artemi Panarin — the Rangers could’ve been a soft landing spot for Shabanov.
However, there are question marks about whether his KHL success will translate to the NHL because of his size. Shabanov is listed at 5-foot-8, which is something he’ll need to overcome in the NHL, where players are getting bigger and stronger by the season.
Still, there was a lot of interest in Shabanov, who, should he pan out, signed a bargain deal with the Islanders. It should be noted that another Chernykh client, Max Tsyplakov, signed last summer with the Islanders after playing in the KHL and is currently an RFA with arbitration rights. That could’ve been a factor here, though it’s clear Shabanov was very thorough in his process to select the right team for him.
“He has his own checklist,” Chernykh explained. “The most important thing was ice time—how much he’d play, who he’d play with. He went deep into the details. He asked about power-play systems, he talked to coaches, he wanted to understand everything. That’s why the negotiations took so long.”
Related: Rangers GM addresses flurry of roster changes: ‘big piece of it was salary cap’
Rangers, rival Islanders each been busy this offseason
The Rangers and their archrivals have each been busy this offseason after both teams missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. The Rangers fired Peter Laviolette as coach and replaced him with two-time Stanley Cup winner Mike Sullivan to kickstart their changes. The Islanders made a similar major leadership change, replacing Lou Lamoriello with Mathieu Darche as general manager.
Since then, the Rangers traded veteran forward Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks for prospects Carey Terrance and a swap of mid-round draft picks. They also traded defenseman K’Andre Miller, a restricted free agent due a big raise, to another division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes, for defenseman Scott Morrow and two premium picks in the 2026 NHL Draft — a conditional first-rounder and a second-round selection.
With the saved money, the Rangers signed Vladislav Gavrikov, the top free-agent defenseman available, to a seven-year, $49 million contract. They also re-signed Will Cuylle to a two-year bridge deal and locked up other RFAs like Matt Rempe and Adam Edstrom. New York fortified its bottom-six forward group by signing free agent Taylor Raddysh, as well.
The Islanders won the NHL Draft Lottery and selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 overall pick. They also acquired two other first-round picks after trading defenseman Noah Dobson, an RFA with arbitration rights like Miller, to the Montreal Canadiens. In that trade, they also acquired forward Emil Heineman. And the Islanders signed forward Jonathan Drouin to a two-year contract.
Darche retained several of his own player by re-signing Alexander Romanov, Kyle Palmieri, Tomas Holmstrom and former Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo.
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