Confirmed with Link: Rangers Buy Out Contract of Henrik Lundqvist

[Hunter Gathers]

Absolutely had to do this from a business perspective (still not sure why people thought we wouldn't make this move). From a purely personal standpoint, it is incredibly sad to see him move on and not retire as a Ranger.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Unfortunately, we're here with Lundqvist. I think fans and Rangers wish he could've just retired, or even accepted a back-up role. But that wasn't going to happen.

This. And that unfortunately made the choice of the Rangers very simple. It was really a decision that the team didn't even have to make since it was made for them by him.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I think it was moreso the mindset that people believed Lundqvist would be here until he decided to leave and that they'd never entertain trading him, or buying him out. We literally had pages upon pages of people arguing that it wouldn't happen and that he would finish it out here because "he's Henrik Lundqvist!"

Also there was this from Brooks from his post article.

"Bringing back the icon to be a backup for this coming season was never a serious option for either party."

Did these same people think they should have Shesterkin be a backup next year?

 

[Edge]

Also there was this from Brooks from his post article.

"Bringing back the icon to be a backup for this coming season was never a serious option for either party."

Did these same people think they should have Shesterkin be a backup next year?

I think it's easy to want the veteran guy to be the mentor to the younger guy.

That's how fans envision it. They want their old stars to embrace the new stars and be one big happy family.

Sports is more complicated than that. These are highly competitive people who've reached the pinnacle of their profession. They are usually built in a way that is different from the average person. The same attributes that allow them overcome slumps, or failure in front of millions of people also contributes to a mindset that often doesn't want to share the sandbox --- especially for positions like goalies in the NHL or quarterbacks in the NFL.

The Lundqvist-Shesterkin relationship was always destined to more closely resemble the DiMaggio-Mantle or Montana-Young relationship than the fairytale fans wanted.

 

[Larrybiv]

Extremely disappointed. He could have retired a Ranger if they just moved Georgiev, whom isnt all that great to begin with. He would have been suitable backing up Shesterkin.

Why were so many here willing to "get rid of/trade" Georgiev (a young and seemingly capable back-up, at the very least) ....for just one more year of Hank? I love Hank and all he has done for us, but ridding Georgiev in that context just makes absolutely no sense. Isnt a "bird in the hand, worth 2 in the bush" still a thing? Shesty being the real McCoy seems to be, just that......what? Shesty cannot get injured and we would be okay with Hank full time with .......Wall or whomever? Naaah, I think trading Georgiev was NEVER entertained, not UNLESS blown away. Does anyone think Georgiev is more susceptible to injuries than Hank? I don't. Gorton could easily have a Hank/whomever OR a whomever/whomever tandem with a kick ass rest of the squad. Or, pay big bucks elsewhere.
Also, Georgiev "not great to begin with"? Might be true, but not very many can face over 100 shots in consec. games and get away alive and well. Everyone is on the Shesty train (and so am I) , but dont degrade the very decent play of Georgie.

 

[Edge]

Why were so many here willing to "get rid of/trade" Georgiev (a young and seemingly capable back-up, at the very least) ....for just one more year of Hank? I love Hank and all he has done for us, but ridding Georgiev in that context just makes absolutely no sense. Isnt a "bird in the hand, worth 2 in the bush" still a thing? Shesty being the real McCoy seems to be, just that......what? Shesty cannot get injured and we would be okay with Hank full time with .......Wall or whomever? Naaah, I think trading Georgiev was NEVER entertained, not UNLESS blown away. Does anyone think Georgiev is more susceptible to injuries than Hank? I don't. Gorton could easily have a Hank/whomever OR a whomever/whomever tandem with a kick ass rest of the squad. Or, pay big bucks elsewhere.
Also, Georgiev "not great to begin with"? Might be true, but not very many can face over 100 shots in consec. games and get away alive and well. Everyone is on the Shesty train (and so am I) , but dont degrade the very decent play of Georgie.

And to be clear, even if they moved Georgiev several months ago, I don't think it would've changed the finale for Lundqvist.

I just don't think the Lundqvist-Shesterkin dynamic was something anyone was comfortable with. I'll leave it at that because otherwise I feel like it would lead us down a rabbit hole and into pages of debates that would take away from the goodbye we owe Lundqvist.

 

[Baby Punisher]

I guess I have been around long enough that my passion for individuals has wained more than my passion for the team. Lundqvist was a great New York Ranger. The time has come to part ways. I hate the cap implications, and I hate to see the guy be dismissed in such a way from a buyout. HOWEVER, Hank knew this could happen when he signed the contract that was offered to him. Lundqvist wanted a long-term contract of that length and he got it and everything else that came along with it.

 

[nyr2k2]

Why were so many here willing to "get rid of/trade" Georgiev (a young and seemingly capable back-up, at the very least) ....for just one more year of Hank? I love Hank and all he has done for us, but ridding Georgiev in that context just makes absolutely no sense. Isnt a "bird in the hand, worth 2 in the bush" still a thing? Shesty being the real McCoy seems to be, just that......what? Shesty cannot get injured and we would be okay with Hank full time with .......Wall or whomever? Naaah, I think trading Georgiev was NEVER entertained, not UNLESS blown away. Does anyone think Georgiev is more susceptible to injuries than Hank? I don't. Gorton could easily have a Hank/whomever OR a whomever/whomever tandem with a kick ass rest of the squad. Or, pay big bucks elsewhere.
Also, Georgiev "not great to begin with"? Might be true, but not very many can face over 100 shots in consec. games and get away alive and well. Everyone is on the Shesty train (and so am I) , but dont degrade the very decent play of Georgie.

It wasn't a "let's trade Georgiev so we can keep Hank one more year" thing for me, and I don't think it was for most. For me, this is what we had:

1. Two goalies, one of whom needed to be moved
2. One goalie (Georgiev) who actually had some value
3. One goalie (also Georgiev) who we'll likely be moving on from in the next couple of years anyway
4. One goalie (Lundqvist) who likely required a buyout to get rid of, adding dead money

So given this, it seemed logical to me to keep Lundqvist, not for sentimental reasons but because it was practical. Georgiev won't want to stay here as a backup forever, especially if he plays well, so it's not like we'd be moving an integral part of the team over the next 5-10 years. And when Staal was traded and we freed up all that cap space, it seemed like the need to get rid of Lundqvist for cap purposes was essentially eliminated.

So, IDK. I'm sure there's more to it than what I've captured here, but that was my thinking, and I think many others shared the thought process.

 

[JohnC]

It wasn't a "let's trade Georgiev so we can keep Hank one more year" thing for me, and I don't think it was for most. For me, this is what we had:

1. Two goalies, one of whom needed to be moved
2. One goalie (Georgiev) who actually had some value
3. One goalie (also Georgiev) who we'll likely be moving on from in the next couple of years anyway
4. One goalie (Lundqvist) who likely required a buyout to get rid of, adding dead money

So given this, it seemed logical to me to keep Lundqvist, not for sentimental reasons but because it was practical. Georgiev won't want to stay here as a backup forever, especially if he plays well, so it's not like we'd be moving an integral part of the team over the next 5-10 years. And when Staal was traded and we freed up all that cap space, it seemed like the need to get rid of Lundqvist for cap purposes was essentially eliminated.

So, IDK. I'm sure there's more to it than what I've captured here, but that was my thinking, and I think many others shared the thought process.

This is where I was, and I still stand by it being the smarter move. It was trade Georgiev for a 2nd this offseason or kick the can down the road a year and trade him for a second next offseason.

Hank not wanting to be a back up obviously changes the calculus of the situation though.

 

[nyr2k2]

This is where I was, and I still stand by it being the smarter move. It was trade Georgiev for a 2nd this offseason or kick the can down the road a year and trade him for a second next offseason.

Hank not wanting to be a back up obviously changes the calculus of the situation though.

Exactly. Well-put. My whole "ideal scenario" was predicated on Lundqvist willing to be the designated backup and play 25-30 games, max. If he wasn't interested in that, then this is of course the only plausible scenario.

 

[eco's bones]

If Henrik does sign with another NHL that's a choice he's made instead of retiring. I respect that choice but to be fair if he comes back and plays against the Rangers I am not going to root for him to win like most Rangers fans did back in the 70's when Giacomin moved over to Detroit. For one thing Giacomin didn't really have a choice in that decision and personally I'm to the point where I've left a lot of sentimentality about these things behind. The Rangers made the right decision for them. Henrik will make the right decisions for himself. At the end of the day I'm with the Rangers.

 

[rangers1314]

Not sure if it was mentioned, so forgive me if it was.

Lebrun spoken to Don Meehan today, he was non-committal about Hank playing elsewhere. "To be determined".

 

[haohmaru]

Exactly. Well-put. My whole "ideal scenario" was predicated on Lundqvist willing to be the designated backup and play 25-30 games, max. If he wasn't interested in that, then this is of course the only plausible scenario.

I made the same argument that relied on the same premise.

Honestly, given what we know now, this is really just about the only way that this could've been resolved given that Lundqvist wants to keep playing in the NHL. The only other alternative would've been to trade him, presumably with a pick or prospect, and have another team buy him out.

This idea that Hank was going to retire early for the sake of the Rangers was fantasy and unrealistic. Hank will retire if he can't find a spot to land that makes sense for him - remains to be seen if that spot is out there.

 

[NYR94]

 

[haohmaru]

 

[haohmaru]

He played like that and didn't win a Cup. It hurts my heart. -_-
What a day. What a shitty day.

Hope he goes to Colorado, or wherever, and wins one.

 

[GAGLine]

This is where I was, and I still stand by it being the smarter move. It was trade Georgiev for a 2nd this offseason or kick the can down the road a year and trade him for a second next offseason.

Hank not wanting to be a back up obviously changes the calculus of the situation though.

That assumes that deal was on the table. Other teams knew we had 3 goalies and needed to either trade Georgiev or buy out Hank.

On top of that, there are a ton of goalies on the market, many of them UFAs that won't cost a 2nd to acquire. The buyout period ends when the UFA period beings. Maybe we could have held onto Hank until the 2nd buyout window (assuming we have enough arbitration cases), but that doesn't help Hank if he wants to find a new team.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

If Henrik does sign with another NHL that's a choice he's made instead of retiring. I respect that choice but to be fair if he comes back and plays against the Rangers I am not going to root for him to win like most Rangers fans did back in the 70's when Giacomin moved over to Detroit. For one thing Giacomin didn't really have a choice in that decision and personally I'm to the point where I've left a lot of sentimentality about these things behind. The Rangers made the right decision for them. Henrik will make the right decisions for himself. At the end of the day I'm with the Rangers.

Yup. Though I’ll root for that team when they’re not playing the Rangers.*

*Unless it’s NYI, PHI, NJD, WAS, or PIT, of course.

 

[JCProdigy]

I think people almost forgot just how much of a gap there was between Lundqvist's consistency compared to his peers --- even those who were counted among the best at the position.

The one potential saving grace we have is that we have a prospect like Shesterkin. Otherwise that change (be it now or a year from now) would've been even more dramatic.

In many ways during his career, he was like the Mariano Rivera of goaltenders. I mean this as throughout MO's career, there were a lot of closers who had better one year or couple year stretches than MO but none had the duration of dominance that he had. I feel the same about Lundqvist. For me, after Brodeur retired, Luongo was the only one that came close.

Those numbers are so filthy, Mike Rowe called and said even he's disgusted...

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Just watched the career highlights package the NHL put together and the Thank You video from the Rangers. I just read his twitter feed and it hit me.

I gotta be honest, it got emotional for me.

Being the face and leader of my favorite team for a very long time, it seems like yesterday when he was the young savior we were all excited to see to come over and boy did he ever deliver. This dude carried this team on his shoulders for many seasons.

When you are so invested as a fan there are certain athletes who rise above and become part of your life, part of who you are as you grow up. Someone you would trust with your first born if you ever had the chance.

Sure it is all through the TV and media and sometimes in person at the Garden, but with Hank he wore his heart on his sleeve and you could easily tell how good of a person he was and is.

Over 1,000 games, had to have seen 95% of them. 1,000 games.

Hard to believe it's been that long. I think thats part of why it gets so emotional with "goodbyes" like this. Because it isn't just a player leaving your team, its all of those memories. The seasons, the expectations going into camp. Fighting for the playoffs. The playoff runs. Holding on at the end of games. The shootouts he absolutely dominated for so many years. 15 years.

Henrik will always be a Ranger and always embody what a true Ranger should be. The one thing that struck me hard watching those save highlights was he never gave up on the play. Not a single time. That is what NY fans expect, demand and appreciate. That is all we ask. Henrik never gave up and always believed and he worked his f***ing ass off to be the best he could be.

A sad, but very proud and appreciative day today.

 

[Miamipuck]

Any person that says, "but he didn't win a cup" should have those numbers shoved .......

 

[darko]

Then he could have retired and not had the cap hit. It seems he wants to play.

Retiring he forfeits the money.

 

[eco's bones]

Just watched the career highlights package the NHL put together and the Thank You video from the Rangers. I just read his twitter feed and it hit me.

I gotta be honest, it got emotional for me.

Being the face and leader of my favorite team for a very long time, it seems like yesterday when he was the young savior we were all excited to see to come over and boy did he ever deliver. This dude carried this team on his shoulders for many seasons.

When you are so invested as a fan there are certain athletes who rise above and become part of your life, part of who you are as you grow up. Someone you would trust with your first born if you ever had the chance.--

Sure it is all through the TV and media and sometimes in person at the Garden, but with Hank he wore his heart on his sleeve and you could easily tell how good of a person he was and is.

Over 1,000 games, had to have seen 95% of them. 1,000 games.

Hard to believe it's been that long. I think thats part of why it gets so emotional with "goodbyes" like this. Because it isn't just a player leaving your team, its all of those memories. The seasons, the expectations going into camp. Fighting for the playoffs. The playoff runs. Holding on at the end of games. The shootouts he absolutely dominated for so many years. 15 years.

Henrik will always be a Ranger and always embody what a true Ranger should be. The one thing that struck me hard watching those save highlights was he never gave up on the play. Not a single time. That is what NY fans expect, demand and appreciate. That is all we ask. Henrik never gave up and always believed and he worked his f***ing ass off to be the best he could be.

A sad, but very proud and appreciative day today.

He really is a good guy and his comments on his twitter account outline that very well. I would like if one day he continued on with the Rangers in another capacity. I know if he decided to do that he would put the work in and he's a very intelligent man.

The world of professional sports can be pretty cruel. Not just for the players either. He was the Rangers best player for the majority of his career and unfortunately he leaves without having won a Cup but it's not so much his fault--the Rangers got real close once but they never really surrounded him with great players--some good and some very good ones but usually to win you need to have more than one great player. Also to me part of what it takes to be a good general manager is to be cruel when or if you need to be because you have to understand what's best for the team not just what's best for one player. Shesterkin deserves his shot at the No. 1 because of what I saw last year he is beyond doubt our best goalie. Georgiev--also a young man has shown that he could be a very good one too though at the same time it wouldn't shock me that the Rangers move on from him too--if not this year probably a year or two down the line.

 

[nyr2k2]

His Tweets making me tear up. LOL.

 

[stan the caddy]

My favorite Ranger of all time but unfortunately it's time to move on.