I wanted Wallstedt, because BPA for the first 1-1.5 rounds is the way to go. But honestly, I'm kind of ready to let Shesty walk as is. No leap of faith is necessary; I just don't want to overpay a goalie by like 3-4M.
If we had Wallstedt ready to step in, it would just make it a little easier on the nerves.
If we let him walk, we are left with 2 choices:
1) Find a replacement who won't be as good and may cost us a significant amount of cap and/or assets, assuming a suitable replacement can even be found.
2) Embrace a rebuild/retool and accept that we will be bad for a bit.
I can't imagine the Rangers, whether it's Dolan, Drury, or anyone else, going with #2. We're only 6 years from removed from them formally announcing a rebuild, and that rebuild lasted all of a year before we began spending again. They clearly don't have the stomach for playing the long game.
So, that leaves us with #1. Maybe we can find a reasonably good goalie at a reason price, but there's no doubt that the team, at least in the short term, will be the worse for it.