According to a tweet by NHL Insider, and former Rangers goalie, Kevin Weekes, Shesterkin rejected an eight-year, $88 million contract offer by the Blueshirts. That $11 million average annual value would’ve made Shesterkin the highest-paid goalie in NHL history. Carey Price’s $10,5 million AAV is the current benchmark for goalies.

**Breaking News** 🚨 📰
I’m told the Stanley Cup contending & cap spending @NYRangers offer of $88M / 11M AAV has been rejected by G Shesterkin.
Igor has rejected the highest Goalie contract in @NHL history from #NYR . #HockeyX pic.twitter.com/assw8DGUH1

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) October 8, 2024

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic later confirmed Weekes’ initial report, though not the dollar amount.

“I can confirm that New York put on the table the largest contract for a goalie in NHL history,” LeBrun said on Insider Trading. “But obviously that hasn’t led to a signature.”

Likely this is just a starting point in the negotiations. It’s been widely reported that the 29-year-old goalie seeks north of $12 million per season. So, the Rangers are aware that they’ll need to move up from this reported offer.

It’s also been reported that if a contract extension is not agreed upon by opening night, which is Wednesday when the Rangers visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena, Shesterkin will cut off negotiations.

When it comes to this much money and security, though, it’s hard to believe that the Rangers will let their No. 1 walk as an unrestricted free agent next offseason. Nor would it appear likely that Shesterkin would turn away if the Rangers met — or approached — his contract demands once the season starts.

One thing that is unlikely is for Shesterkin or Rangers general manager Chris Drury to comment at all about negotiations. Drury is notoriously tight-lipped — which serves an important negotiation like this well. And Shesterkin spoke on the topic at the start of training camp, pretty much vowing not to do so again.

“I love the organization, I love the team, I love the fans,” Shesterkin told reporters in September. “So, of course, it would be great to stay here. But you never know what can happen.”

Drury had this to say to reporters at the start of training camp, “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he’s here for a long time.”

Related: Stanley Cup or bust: Staff predictions for Rangers in 2024-25 NHL season

Rangers hope to sign Igor Shesterkin before he becomes UFA next offseason

Shesterkin was ranked the No. 1 goalie heading into this season by NHL Network. The 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner as the League’s top goalie is 135-59-17 with a 2.43 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in 213 NHL regular-season games.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Shesterkin has been brilliant, leading the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final in two of the past three seasons. He is 23-20 all-time in the postseason with a 2.41 GAA and sterling .928 save percentage.

“When Igor Shesterkin does sign, whether with the Rangers or elsewhere, he absolutely will be the highest-paid goalie ever, and that’s starts with an 11 or a 12,” Lebrun said.

The two-time NHL All-Star is one of three important Rangers that needs to be re-signed before next offseason, creating a major salary cap crunch for the Blueshirts. Both forward Alexis Lafreniere and defenseman K’Andre Miller are due big raises as restricted free agents with arbitration rights when this season ends.

Defenseman Ryan Lindgren can be a UFA next offseason, after he signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract this summer. But there a good chance the Rangers won’t be able to sign him because of cap restrictions. Lindgren is currently out with an upper-body injury.

As for Shesterkin, he had a strong preseason and it does not appear that the contract talks are having any effect on his play. Let’s see how this all plays out, though.

Upon returning to action in 2005-06, New York finally had the chance to let Henrik Lundqvist play, their hidden gem from the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. By the time he reached Broadway, he was already voted Sweden’s player of the year, a two-time SHL champion, and a Silver Medalist at the World Championships. Ultimately, he was the goalie of the future and immediately dressed in 53 games in his first season, compiling a 30-12-8 record. 

Realistically, when Lundqvist started his first game, he ushered in a new era for the franchise, becoming their number-one goalie for the next 15 seasons, playing in 887 games. Although he ended up splitting the duties in his final season (2019-20) with Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin, the official history of starters in New York since 2005 goes directly from Lundqvist to Shesterkin. 

Statistically, for the last 18 years, the Rangers have had a bona fide starter, with Lundqvist and Shesterkin skating in 1,045 games, or 74.4% of the club’s games (1,404). Additionally, they combined to win 558 contests, which surprisingly accounts for 74.3% of the team’s 751 wins during this time.

So, after acquiring three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick this summer to replace Jaroslav Halak, he becomes the 18th netminder (excluding Lundqvist and Shesterkin) to put on a Rangers sweater since 2006.

In this article, we’ll explore who the backups were, their statistics, and impact on the team over the past 18 seasons. 

Related: Reliving Henrik Lundqvist’s Vezina winning season

Henrik Lundqvist had many partners in his first nine seasons

In 2005-06, the Rangers employed three goalies: Lundqvist, Kevin Weekes, and Chris Holt. As mentioned, King Henrik started the most games with 53, while Weekes played in 32 and Holt dressed for one. Interestingly, Weekes returned in 2006-07, skating in 14 games, while Holt never played for New York again. 

During that 2006-07 season, Steve Valiquette made a few appearances (three) to kick start a run as the official team backup, a role he had for three seasons. Altogether, during this stretch, he played in 34 games over three seasons, eventually sharing the duties with Chad Johnson (five games), Matt Zaba (one game), and Alex Auld (three games) in 2009-10. 

Johnson would see his tenure extend into the 2010-11 season (one game), joining recently acquired free agent Martin Biron (17 games) during his first season in New York. Eventually, Biron would hold down a spot in the lineup until 2013-14, playing in 29 games, before Cam Talbot joined the ranks with 21 appearances that year. Although Talbot only played two campaigns with the Rangers, appearing in an additional 36 games in 2014-15, he shared the bench with Mackenzie Skapski, who played twice that season. 

During his first nine years in the league, Lundqvist shared the crease with ten goalies, who played 199 games and combined for an 89-66-19 record (44% win percentage), compared to his 620 games and 339-208-65 record (54% win percentage). 

New York Rangers goalie shuffle

Starting in 2015-16, Lundqvist shared the crease for two seasons with Magnus Hellberg (three games) and Annti Raanta (55 games). Then, in 2017-18, the Rangers employed Ondrej Pavelec (19 games), Brandon Halverson (one game), and Georgiev (10 games). Ultimately, that year marked the beginning of the Georgiev era since he would be Lundqvist’s only partner in 2018-19 (33 games) before Shesterkin debuted, playing 12 times in 2019-20. Although New York had three world-class netminders on the roster, Georgiev led the trio with 34 games during the shortened season. 

After the Rangers bought out Lundqvist’s contract after the 2019-20 campaign, Shesterkin became the number one, resulting in fewer games for Georgiev. During the 2020-21 season, he skated in 19 games, while Keith Kinkaid came up for nine. Ultimately, the duo continued playing behind Shesterkin in 2021-22, with Georgiev working 33 games, Kinkaid one game, and Adam Huska playing once.   

Once Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy in 2021-22, the team let Georgiev walk in free agency (signed with the Colorado Avalanche) and restructured their goalie platoon by signing free agent Jaroslav Halak. Realistically, at 37 years old, Halak was on the backend of his career and played just 25 games, which is what fans should expect for 37-year-old Quick during the 2023-24 season.

As the Rangers dealt with the end of Lundqvist’s Hall of Fame career while ushering in the Shesterkin era simultaneously, the team employed eight netminders to serve as backup since the 2015-16 campaign. Ultimately, these skaters played in 243 games and earned a 104-83-22 record, equalling a 42.7 win percentage. Meanwhile, Lundqvist and Shesterkin combined for 425 games, a 219-144-46 record, and a 51.5 win percentage.

Historical Perspective

Without splitting hairs, the recent Rangers’ starting goalie lineage dates back to 1989-90, when Mike Richter debuted. Immediately after he retired due to concussions in 2002-03, the team scrambled to find his replacement, running with five netminders in 2003-04. 

During his 14 years between the pipes, Richter backstopped New York to a Stanley Cup victory in 1994, playing 666 games and compiling a 301-258-73 record. Interestingly, the team relied on 16 backup goalies to play on his off days, with these players dressing in 529 games, registering a subpar 196-220-64 record. 

Overall, since 1989-90, the year Richter debuted on Broadway, the Rangers have played 2598 contests, with a 1275-1027-144-152 record. Collectively, Richter, Lundqvist, and Shesterkin combined to skate in 1711 games (65.68%) and earned an 859-610-73-111 record. Meanwhile, during this time frame, the 34 backups combined to play in 971 games, sporting a 389-369-64-41 record. 

Before anyone gets their calculators out to highlight any errors, there is a difference between the two totals, 27-48-7, the record of the 2003-04 Rangers, who employed five goalies between the Richter and Lundqvist eras. 

Ultimately, New York’s number one goalies have won 50.2% of their games over 30 years, while the plethora of backups is less at 40.0%. Considering the Rangers have won 49.0% of their regular season games since 1989, the team has more success when their stars backstopped them on a nightly basis.

We all knew this would be the case. However, it was interesting to see how much action the backups have seen since 1989, given the lengthy injuries sustained by Richter, Lundqvist, and Shesterkin throughout their careers.

When it comes to an Assistant GM, the organization will want that in place well before the NHL Entry Draft on July 23rd. As for possible candidates – good luck getting anything out of the steel trap of secrecy that is Chris Drury.

Here are three candidates I believe could be in the mix.

Rangers Assistant GM candidate: Kevin Weekes

NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes is one of the brightest minds in the game today. He has been sought for interviews by teams like the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins. There’s also been some talk that he could land with old teammate Chris Drury in New York.

I would look at Kevin Weekes for a lot of reasons beginning with the fact that Weekes has a lot of the same background, career path and people skills that made Davidson so effective. Davidson played goal in the NHL, eventually moved into the broadcast booth once his playing career ended and then got his first front office position in St. Louis… Like Davidson, Weekes also has great charisma — an important asset nowadays in any organizational leader. Weekes was in the running for the job in Pittsburgh that eventually fell to Burke. Plus he played for both the Rangers and Devils at the end of his career.

The Athletic

Credit where it is due, this is a fantastic idea from Duhatschek. Although he believes Weekes would be a fit as President, I think he’d be more influential to the team’s success as an assistant GM for now. If Drury were to bring in Weekes, it would be the joining of two of the brightest minds in the game today.

Mathieu Darche

Former NHL forward Mathieu Darche has been Tampa Bay’s Director of Hockey Operations since 2019. He retired from playing in 2013 as a member of the Lightning. The 44 year-old is an up and coming star in the executive ranks, much like Chris Drury.

During the 2012 lockout, Darche played a role for the NHLPA’s negotiating team to get a new CBA. That’s where he garnered the skills to help current Lightning GM Julien BriseBois with managing the cap and contract negotiations.

“He’s got phenomenal people skills and a really good head for management,” BriseBois said. “Just one of those guys that’s a natural leader. He was the perfect fit for the job.”

The Athletic

Darche would represent an outside the organization candidate that could bring in some new ideas. He has been an integral part of the NHL’s most successful franchise over the last several years. He will certainly have a list of suitors if Tampa agrees to let him interview for any other position.

Pat Boller

If the Rangers want to promote from within, Pat Boller has been with the organization for 12 years. He was an assistant coach with the Wolf Pack before becoming the assistant GM in the 2012-13 season. The 48 year-old worked with Drury to help turn Hartford around so there’s familiarity there.

Of course, Drury could simply promote him up to be Hartford’s full time GM, but he should at least be given some consideration.

NHL Rumors

What will the fallout out be now for the Golden Knights? And what the Sabres need to do in order to trade Jack Eichel. Read it all here.

After all, both number 11’s were benevolent captains of Broadway’s one and only hockey team. For the purposes of this piece, the number 11 has a different significance. 11 does not represent the number on the back of a player’s sweater. Instead it amounts to all the NHLers to suit up for the Rangers, Islanders and Devils. Let’s rank and reveal them.

11: Pat Conacher

The diminutive centerman has the distinction of being the first player to wear Rangers blue, Devils red and Islanders orange. Conacher was a Ranger for parts of two seasons in the 1980’s and did not register a goal in his 22 games. Though his brief stint on Broadway was non-descript, the Edmonton native can tell his grand kids with pride that he was the first player to call Manhattan, Uniondale and East Rutherford home.

10: Joel Bouchard

The slick-skating defeseman just barely qualified for our list as he played just one game on the wrong side of the Hudson, suiting up for the Devils for a lone contest in the 2001-02 season. The Montreal native had a decent stint playing parts of two seasons for the Rangers from 2002-2004 tallying 20 points in 55 games.

9: Arron Asham

The fierce and fiery Asham made a name for himself on the early 2000’s Islander teams providing toughness, grit and occasional offense. Asham played in 33 regular seasons games for the Rangers in 2013 and 2014 scoring two goals. However, his claim to fame in his short Ranger stint was scoring the ice-breaking goal in game 7 of the 2013 first round series in Washington to propel his team to a 5-0 elimination of the Capitals.

8: Mike Mottau

The 2000 Hobey Baker Award winner was signed right out of Boston College giving Ranger fans a glimmer of hope for young talent. The Massachusetts native could never find a home on the corner of 33rd Street and 7th Avenue and off he went to make his way around the Metropolitan area playing the bulk of his career in New Jersey.

7: Kevin Weekes

The first of three goalies on our list, Weeks has carved out quite a nice post-playing career taking his eloquence, class and hockey knowledge to the broadcasting studio. Weekes’ Ranger career, unfortunately for him, can be summed up as a stop-gap until a young goalie from Sweden named Henrik Lundqvist was ready to assume his throne and grab the keys to the castle.

6: Michael Grabner

You Devils fans ain’t gonna like this one…

Grabner electrified Ranger and Islander fans alike with his explosive speed and breathtaking breakaway opportunities. In my 40+ of years watching hockey folks, I have never seen a player with rocket propelled skates like the Austrian native. Grabner was traded from the Rangers to the Devils and, well, let’s just say his short stint in Newark did not live up to the billing nor the compensation Ranger general manager Jeff Gorton was able to swindle from his Hudson River counterpart

5: PA Parenteau

Parenteau was an enigma of sorts putting up eye-popping numbers on every level except the NHL level. When the Hull, Quebec native made his debut for the Blueshirts in the 2009-10 season, Ranger fans could see a modicum of talent especially when it came to the shootout. Parenteau became a trusted shootout candidate for former coach John Tortorella as was witnessed in the final regular season game against the Flyers with the playoffs on the line. Parenteau would move on to Long Island and eventually New Jersey before calling it a career in 2017

4: Mike Dunham

Our second goalie to make the rounds across the New York Metro area, Dunham was looked upon as being one of the best young goalies in the NHL when he was traded from New Jersey to Nashville. Dunham would be acquired by the Rangers in 2002-03 and darn near carried his underachieving team to the playoffs.

Dunham’s impressive 2003 stretch run forced your’s truly to run out and buy his #30 jersey which I then had the nameplate replaced three seasons later when a certain other franchise goalie made his Madison Square Garden debut.

3: Vladimir Malakhov

There are a few scant topics that Ranger, Islander and Devil fans could all agree on. One of the few unanimous agreements would be the tantalization of the towering Russian blue-liner, Vladimir Malakhov. The 6’4 230lbs Malakhov had all the tools to be a perennial All Star and consistent Norris Trophy candidate.

For reasons known only to “Vladdy” his desire never matched his immense talent leaving all three indigenous fan bases to wonder “what if?” Malakhov was unceremoniously traded away at the 2004 trade deadline as part of a Ranger roster purge.

2: Sergei Nemchinov

“Sarge” played all but six of his 761 NHL games for either the Rangers, Isles or Devils, A vital member of the 1994 Rangers Stanley Cup championship team, Nemchinov was also a champion as a role player with New Jersey in 2000 and was well-respected by his teammates and respective fan-bases around the New York area.

1: John Vanbiesbrouck

“The Beezer” as he was affectionately known by the Garden Faithful, played the majority of his 882 total games backstopping the Rangers, capturing the 1986 Vezina Trophy and earning the full-throated admiration and adulation of Rangerstown.

Vanbiesbrouck finished up his lengthy and successful NHL career with the Isles and Devils respectively before calling it quits in 2002. Before Henrik Lundqvist, there was Mike Richter and before Richter, there was the Beezer, Ranger fans certainly love their home grown franchise goaltenders and Vanbiesbrouck was no different.

Grab yourself a Rangers jersey on Sale Now!

Fanatics is having a major sale of UP TO 65% SITEWIDE. So gear up for the playoffs with a hot Rangers jersey today.

On October 4th, 2018, the curtain will rise on another New York Rangers season as the Blueshirts will host the formidable Stanley Cup contenders, the Nashville Predators. This will be the 92nd season for the Rangers, and their 50th at the newest location of Madison Square Garden, or Garden IV if you will. For me personally, I am blessed to say that this will be the 26th straight home opener in which I am fortunate enough to have been in attendance. It all started back in October of 1992 when I heard an advertisement on the radio that there were still tickets available to that year’s Rangers home opener against the Hartford Whalers. I was able to convince my over-protective Jewish mother to let me take the train into Manhattan (I was 17 at the time and going to the City was not something she was fond of). I hustled to the nearest Ticketmaster location on Long Island and, sure enough, I scored tickets to that night’s game. So exciting!

It was a fantastic evening. The Rangers trounced the Whalers by the final score of 6-2, and the contest included several fights including a scrap between goalies. During a melee, Whaler net-minder Sean Burke tried to lasso Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch. Upon seeing his teammate and good buddy under duress, Rangers goalie Mike Richter darted towards the mass of humanity and grabbed the much larger Burke and away they went. Also that evening, before the game, the Rangers raised banners from the 1991-1992 season in which the team won the Patrick Division and President’s Trophy. This was certainly one of those seminal experiences that one never forgets. Little did I know at the time that I would be at every single Garden opening night from there on out. As I reflect and reminisce, some of the more memorable and noteworthy home openers pop into my mind. I won’t and can’t list them all, but there certainly are a few occasions that stand out above the rest.

October 6th, 1996: Wayne Gretzky’s First Home Game as a Ranger: It isn’t every day that the hands-down best player to ever play a particular sport is wearing your team’s colors. Gretzky may not have been the 200 points a year dynamo he was in the 1980s with the Oilers, but still, seeing him introduced wearing that red, white and blue uniform of my beloved hockey team was pretty darn cool.

October 11th, 2000: Mark Messier’s Return: After a three-year self-imposed exile in Vancouver, Mark Messier returned to the Rangers and reclaimed his captaincy. The greatest leader in NHL history, and the man who slew the 1940 monster was back where he belonged, in New York. All of us 18,200 fans welcomed back the “Messiah” with open arms, a rousing applause and a thunderous cheer.

October 7th, 2001: First Regular Season Sporting Event Played in Manhattan After 9/11: It was an emotional evening, to say the least. New York City and its inhabitants were still reeling after the horrific events on that horrible September day. Who could ever forget Mark Messier receiving the fireman’s helmet of the heroic chief, Ray Downey, who lost his life on 9/11? Us New Yorkers are well aware of the impact sports had in helping the City heel after the tragic events downtown and this particular Rangers home opener certainly should be included with the Mike Piazza home run and the three thrilling World Series games at Yankee Stadium.

October 6th, 2005: The NHL Reopens For Business After Losing an Entire Season: This opener is memorable for me for two reasons. The first reason is the amount of venom and vitriol I spewed at the players for letting an entire season get washed away because of greed and stupidity. I had an equal amount of angst towards the owners, but they were nowhere to be found. They were safe and sound in their luxury boxes. The players were all right there in front of me on the ice and I let ’em have it. Second, it was the first time that Henrik Lundqvist would suit up and skate in front of the Garden crowd. Lundqvist did not play, he was the back up to Kevin Weeks. But, the fact remains that a star was soon to be born on that early October evening.

January 20th, 1995: The Stanley Cup Banner Gets Raised:
There is a bit of a backstory with this one so please indulge me for a minute…

When the Rangers announced tickets were going on sale in September of 1994 for the upcoming season, I made up my mind that I was going to do everything possible to be in the building for the banner raising ceremony. I figured I’d take the train into Manhattan and get to the box office at 8 am and when the ticket booths opened at 9 am, I truly believed I’d be the first person on line and I would get the best seats in the house.

I decided to pull an allnighter so I wouldn’t oversleep and miss my train. At some point in the middle of the night, someone called up WFAN from this new-fangled gadget called a cellular telephone and said that he and about 100 other Rangers fans were already lined up outside the Garden waiting to get tickets for opening night. I shot up out of my bed, screamed a couple of expletives and grabbed the train schedule to see when the next train was coming. I showered, threw on some nearby clothes and ran over to my local Long Island Railroad platform. I arrived at the Garden around 6 am. Security guards were handing out numbered bracelets and my number was 156.

I was so bummed. I knew immediately that I had no chance to score tickets to the opener. There were limited tickets available, to begin with. There was just no way any inventory would be remaining by the time I arrived at the teller’s booth. Sure enough, shortly after 9 am, it was announced to the sea of Ranger fans that opening night was in fact sold out. Several fans actually walked off the line in sheer disgust upon hearing the upsetting news. I figured I’d stay and get tickets to the other games I had on my list.

I finally made my way to the ticket booth, bought the tickets for my desired games, and headed towards Penn Station to catch my train back to Long Island completely dejected. As I was walking down the stairs right outside the Penn Station entrance, a very unscrupulous looking fellow comes up to me and starts a conversation that went like this…

Unscrupulous Looking Fellow: Hey man, did you get opening night tickets?

Me: Nah, they were sold out before I had the chance

ULF: Well, I gotta run but I have one extra ticket. It’s yours for $50 if you want it

Me: What is the face value?

ULF: $35

Me: Scalping? You know scalping is illegal. You’re not a cop right?

ULF: No, I’m not a cop. Do you want the ticket or not?

Me: You know you can’t arrest me once you say you’re not a cop!

ULF: I’m not a cop! Either give me $50 or I will find someone else

So, in a scene that was eerily reminiscent from the iconic movie, The Godfather, when Fredo was fumbling his gun while his father was being shot, I hastily grab my wallet out of my back pocket and I dropped it. I pick it back up only to see that my hands were shaking. Between the shock of scoring an opening night ticket and the fear of doing something illegal, I was a complete mess. My trembling hands gave this fellow his $50, he gave me the ticket and we went our separate ways and that is how I was able to be at the Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony.

The ceremony was simply incredible. There really are no adjectives that can even come close to accurately describing that evening. I was very lucky to have been in the right place at the right time, walking towards Penn Station and catching the eye of someone looking to sell a ticket. I am also very fortunate to be able to attend each and every home opener since and I can only hope that one day I will see another Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony.

NEXT GAME: The Rangers will look to bounce back on Thursday night in Buffalo when the Blueshirts take on the Sabres. Puck drops at 730!

LETS GO RANGERS!