Is 11.5M for the most overrated goalie in the history of hockey the worst contract in history?

[NotCommitted]

As long as they make the playoffs and he performs there like he has the past years, there's no problem. If they miss the playoffs partly because their 11.5M goalie was playing below average starter level, then that would be not great to put it nicely.

IMO what you're paying for with a goalie is the peak ability and consistency, no goalie ever is going to be the best goalie in the league every year, but if they are above average starter level (or at least thereabouts) even on a bad year, that has a lot of value. Average starter level is not going to carry a team but at least it should be good enough, so that if you have a good team you're not getting destroyed because of the goalie.

 

[ViD]

The overpaid guy strikes again

 

[M88K]

Going into this game Adam Fox is +13% in xG% (6th in the league for a dfenseman) when he's on the ice vs. off, playing with the worst f***ing defenseman in the league. He's also on pace for 66 points and is a +6 on a dumpster fire of a team. But he had a bad All Star Tournament, troll harder.

Dumba plays for the Stars though

 

[The S5]

Igor is like many goaltenders who likes seeing lots of shots. When he gets engaged early, he is definitely a top goalie in the league. The issue is when he isn't seeing shots. He tends to let in too many questionable goals.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

It is... until Alexis Laferreniere's new contract kicks in.

 

[dgibb10]

As long as they make the playoffs and he performs there like he has the past years, there's no problem. If they miss the playoffs partly because their 11.5M goalie was playing below average starter level, then that would be not great to put it nicely.

IMO what you're paying for with a goalie is the peak ability and consistency, no goalie ever is going to be the best goalie in the league every year, but if they are above average starter level (or at least thereabouts) even on a bad year, that has a lot of value. Average starter level is not going to carry a team but at least it should be good enough, so that if you have a good team you're not getting destroyed because of the goalie.

If the rags miss the playoffs it's not shesterkin and his 20 GSAx' fault

 

[Machinehead]

I think some people are not understanding the criticism here.

The Rangers are not bad because Shesterkin is bad.

The Rangers are bad because they're bad and Shesterkin is obviously a good goalie, although I do think it's fair to say he's paid like the absolute best in the league and he's not. But if Hellebuyck became a UFA today, he wouldn't be, so...

The issue is paying a lot of money for a goalie, and that they just don't provide that much value in a series. The Rangers have had solid centers, but not elite ones. When Zibanejad has had to play in the playoffs against Aho, Point, Barkov, Hughes, etc., Zibanejad plays worse. When Panarin has to go up against Forsling, Slavin, etc. etc., Panarin plays worse. Your goaltender can't make the other goaltender play worse. It's not a matchup position. All he can do is hang in there and maybe steal a few while the rest of the team is getting beat by the other team.

So you have these obscene save percentages he puts up in the playoffs, which people have posted, and what has it accomplished?

Ok, only one team wins the Cup and sometimes it comes down to the whims of the universe, I understand that. But the Rangers, honestly, haven't been all that close. They run into a team that outplays them badly.

Watching a 6 or 7 game series where you got destroyed territorially in 5 or 6 of them stops being fun. You can't even say "well, we had a good run." It's not enjoyable.

Shesterkin isn't the root cause of it not being enjoyable. That's because the team is ass cheeks. But he is making a lot of money and a lot of us fear that the losing culture of the Rangers isn't going to change until they lose the crutch and can no longer fall back on goaltending.

Not having Shesterkin would force them into the abyss and the only way out would be actually building the team properly.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Some GM's just don't learn. Many Boston fans already wanting to get out of the awful contract Sweeney gave Swayman. Shesterkin clearly overpaid for years to come, even if he does bounce back some, which isn't guaranteed. No guarantees when it comes to goalies.

Umteenth time -- it is stupid to give max length contracts at big money for a goalie. Some GMs know this. Others are non-learners.

 

[NVious]

Some GM's just don't learn. Many Boston fans already wanting to get out of the awful contract Sweeney gave Swayman. Shesterkin clearly overpaid for years to come, even if he does bounce back some, which isn't guaranteed. No guarantees when it comes to goalies.

Umteenth time -- it is stupid to give max length contracts at big money for a goalie. Some GMs know this. Others are non-learners.

If you're not going to pay Vezina winning goalies because you think a 6 million dollar goalie and 6 million dollar player are better, why pay anyone over 10?

Bobrovsky won, so there goes the theory that you can't win with a high paid goalie. Price took the Habs to the finals, if management hadn't failed so hard before that to get him help he easily could've won a cup during his better/best years.

Finally, the market would literally pay more for Shesty if everyone could pay him and the difference between the Rangers winning or losing isn't the 1-2 million they think Shesty is overpaid by.

 

[Summer Rose]

If you're not going to pay Vezina winning goalies because you think a 6 million dollar goalie and 6 million dollar player are better, why pay anyone over 10?

Bobrovsky won, so there goes the theory that you can't win with a high paid goalie. Price took the Habs to the finals, if management hadn't failed so hard before that to get him help he easily could've won a cup during his better/best years.

Finally, the market would literally pay more for Shesty if everyone could pay him and the difference between the Rangers winning or losing isn't the 1-2 million they think Shesty is overpaid by.

I think the true lesson to be learned is that while you don't need an expensive, dominant goalie to win a cup (but you do need to significantly alter how you build your team if you want it to not have to rely on dominant goaltending to win, such as how Vegas built their cup-winning team), a goalie like that goes a long, long way in getting you there, provided their play is up to par with how much you're paying him.

 

[theVladiator]

I think some people are not understanding the criticism here.

...

That's YOUR criticism. But, did you read the first post? Can't blame people for responding to the things said by thread starter.

What you are saying makes some sense. Yet, when a team is lacking accountability, pointing a finger at the goalie and saying "well, can't blame us, that guy's just too good" feels like another excuse.

 

[FMichael]

Shesterkin and Swayman holding their respective teams hostage...

 

[Machinehead]

That's YOUR criticism. But, did you read the first post? Can't blame people for responding to the things said by thread starter.

What you are saying makes some sense. Yet, when a team is lacking accountability, pointing a finger at the goalie and saying "well, can't blame us, that guy's just too good" feels like another excuse.

You're not wrong.

I think @SnowblindNYR and I are on the same page, but he flies off the handle sometimes with goaltenders. I do it with bad defensemen.

It's not meant as an excuse. When I talk about them losing the crutch, I just feel like that's the best we can hope for, because they're not gonna get it. They should get it, and that's on them.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

Hey, everyone. My sincerest apologies to you all and especially rangers fans. Shesterkin sucks because i drafted him in the second round of my fantasy pool. It's all on me guys. If he was with any of the other teams in my league, he would be a vezina candidate right now.

 

[Chainshot]

Goaltending is a volatile position. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. *shrug* Seems like every top tender has a down year from time to time.