The case for trading Igor (at some point)

[Hire Sather]

I'm sick of it.

I'm sick of having an elite goalie and losing playoff series to net-fillers like Akira Schmid.

Goaltending matters, but actual goalies do not. You can get good goaltending from seemingly any semi decent goaltender who is in the NHL but you can't predict who will give it to you.

This is not saying Igor didn't have a great series against New Jersey, but it doesn't matter. We still lost and. you could argue we've had the better goaltender in every playoff series since 2012 with the exception of the two Tampa series.

I don't want to give Igor his next contract. It's not a knock on him but it's just not a smart use of the cap to tie up 9ish million in your goalie.

So he's at 4.5 million for what? 3 more years? THAT is great value. What can he bring back in a trade? I truly have no idea, and maybe it's not worth trading him just yet if we can't get a good return (and of course we have nothing right now in terms of putting that semi decent goalie to replace him) because Igor at 4.5 is a stupid good contract.

But I guess my point is we need to trade him before giving him another contract and figure out a way to fill the position like most of the league does, without commiting 9 mill to the position.

I don't want an elite goalie anymore. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of losing with the better goalie all the time. I'm sick of teams like the Devils juggling their goalies around in the middle of the playofffs and getting success from it. Knights lose their goalie tonight and it doesn't f***ing matter. Penguins almost beat us with f***ing spicy pork.

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[EdJovanovski]

He makes 5.67M not 4.5 but I was one of those who were right that we should’ve locked him up longer term than that even if it was a bit higher AAV. I remember many fans thought that we gave him too big of a contract lol.

I’d hate to trade him but maybe hmm… Fox & Igor for McDavid?

Igor, Mika, Kakko, Othmann for McDavid?

 

[Hire Sather]

He makes 5.67M not 4.5 but I was one of those who were right that we should’ve locked him up longer term than that even if it was a bit higher AAV. I remember many fans thought that we gave him too big of a contract lol.

I’d hate to trade him but maybe hmm… Fox & Igor for McDavid?

Igor, Mika, Kakko, Othmann for McDavid?

Hmm why did I think 4.5? Didn't even look it up just had it in my head that was his number.

In that case, trading him opens up more cap than I thought

 

[Peltz]

Full stop, we get swept against the Devils without him. Easily.

This is a foolish thread. Igor has zero to do with our cap issues and deserves an extension.

Tampa won two cups and went to a third final in part because of their goalie. It matters.

End of story.

 

[Hire Sather]

Full stop, we get swept against the Devils without him. Easily.

This is a foolish thread. Igor has zero to do with our cap issues and deserves an extension.

Tampa won two cups and went to a third final in part because of their goalie. It matters.

End of story.

His next contract will be an issue and we have to make a decision whether or not to commit that much of the cap to a goalie again.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

I take it you'd prefer not making the playoffs at all? That's what will happen without Igor.

I think we need to accept that as long as this team is owned by Dolan, we are eternally doomed to overpay aging superstars and to destroy any potential stars we draft. That will never change. It does not matter if we finish last for a decade and farm top-5 picks like the Debs and Oilers. We are completely cursed with this management group to never build a competitive team through the draft.

IMO, we might as well accept one of our few blessings, having the reigning best goalie in the league, because it gives us a tinge of hope. Henrik was the only reason we had hope for 15 years, and Igor is the only reason we have hope now.

You think the grass is greener tanking, but the only alternative is hopelessness. Can you imagine how miserable we'd be with a piece of Schmid in net?!

 

[Peltz]

His next contract will be an issue and we have to make a decision whether or not to commit that much of the cap to a goalie again.

We should absolutely sign him. He's the only player on the team that truly played his heart out this playoffs. We need to unload bad contracts, not squander the single best asset on the entire team (Igor).

We are not a playoff team without him.

 

[Hire Sather]

I take it you'd prefer not making the playoffs at all? That's what will happen without Igor.

I think we need to accept that as long as this team is owned by Dolan, we are eternally doomed to overpay aging superstars and to destroy any potential stars we draft. That will never change. It does not matter if we finish last for a decade and farm top-5 picks like the Debs and Oilers. We are completely cursed with this management group to never build a competitive team through the draft.

IMO, we might as well accept one of our few blessings, having the reigning best goalie in the league, because it gives us a tinge of hope. Henrik was the only reason we had hope for 15 years, and Igor is the only reason we have hope now.

You think the grass is greener tanking, but the only alternative is hopelessness. Can you imagine how miserable we'd be with a piece of Schmid in net?!

Absolutely true, perhaps. A case could be made that we don't have the management to build a great team without the elite goalie saving our ass and maybe that's the big issue here.

I just look at the Knights, Devils, Kraken etc winning games and having success without the elite goaltending.

 

[Rangerboy030]

The correct decision for what to do with Shesty when his contract expires is entirely dependent on how the team performs for the next two years. If we fail to win with this core over the next two, there's a very serious case for trading Shesty/letting him go, as part of blowing up the current core and rebuilding (and doing it properly this time).

 

[apoptygma]

A 5 million goalie usually a better way of spending the cap then a 10 million goalie in this league. Those extra 5 millions could be better used on other positions for more bang for the buck.

 

[Coffee]

He makes 5.67M not 4.5 but I was one of those who were right that we should’ve locked him up longer term than that even if it was a bit higher AAV. I remember many fans thought that we gave him too big of a contract lol.

I’d hate to trade him but maybe hmm… Fox & Igor for McDavid?

Igor, Mika, Kakko, Othmann for McDavid?

rather go for fantilli pick

 

[Row I Goon]

We didn’t progress through the first round because our tender didn’t show up.

It was because our forwards didn’t.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

We don't deserve Igor. If there is a bag, go get it. Specifically since we're a goalie factory.

Look at Binner. Dude hasn't been hot since the Cup run. (Any) goalie can get hot at the right time.

 

[apoptygma]

Igor is totally worth his contract today, and a cap hit of 5,66 is very good. Issue is his next contract that should be 10 million or more, and when looking at goalies in the league it feels that the difference from a 5 mill goalie to a 10 mill is way less then from a 5 mill skater to a 10 mill skater.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

A 5 million goalie usually a better way of spending the cap then a 10 million goalie in this league. Those extra 5 millions could be better used on other positions for more bang for the buck.

This. I brought this up in the roster building thread a while back. His current contract is a steal compared to his play and as others have said would have rather seen the Rangers give more term which honestly would make the decision much easier at the end of his current contract.

Shesh will be turning 30 the first year of his new contract. Folks said just sign him to a 4 or 5 deal. It doesn't work like that! There will be a team that offers the max 7 years so that is your starting point term wise. Rangers might offer 8 to bring the cap hit down some.

If you go 8 years he's turning 38 the last year of that deal. Likely for half that contract he's not playing at the level he's currently at and you could be paying him $8-10MM AAV.

The cap will go up during that period though it becomes a question of how you want that cap distributed. Also the play of Garand the next 2 seasons will play into this decision as well.

 

[bbny]

He makes 5.67M not 4.5 but I was one of those who were right that we should’ve locked him up longer term than that even if it was a bit higher AAV. I remember many fans thought that we gave him too big of a contract lol.

I’d hate to trade him but maybe hmm… Fox & Igor for McDavid?

Igor, Mika, Kakko, Othmann for McDavid?

Was right there with you. Still amazes me people were nervous to do that.

 

[blue425]

A 5 million goalie usually a better way of spending the cap then a 10 million goalie in this league. Those extra 5 millions could be better used on other positions for more bang for the buck.

100% agree. Over 5 million is too much on what is a reactive position. That money is better spent elsewhere.

 

[bbny]

This. I brought this up in the roster building thread a while back. His current contract is a steal compared to his play and as others have said would have rather seen the Rangers give more term which honestly would make the decision much easier at the end of his current contract.

Shesh will be turning 30 the first year of his new contract. Folks said just sign him to a 4 or 5 deal. It doesn't work like that! There will be a team that offers the max 7 years so that is your starting point term wise. Rangers might offer 8 to bring the cap hit down some.

If you go 8 years he's turning 38 the last year of that deal. Likely for half that contract he's not playing at the level he's currently at and you could be paying him $8-10MM AAV.

The cap will go up during that period though it becomes a question of how you want that cap distributed. Also the play of Garand the next 2 seasons will play into this decision as well.

At his current level of play, and where the cap is projected to be two summers from now (CapFriendly projecting $92m), it’s probably more than this.

 

[irishlaxburger2]

You win Stanley Cups with 5v5 play, not goaltending.

It would behoove the Rangers to finally improve the former, and not paying for the latter might be part of the solve. I also wonder how much of our 5v5 play is contributed to by relying so much on a goaltender to pull things out.

With Allaire in the organization, we’ve shown - albeit in spurts - that we can still be successful with backup level goaltending.

I’m actually in agreement with the OP. Build from the skaters down. Not goalies out. The latter hasn’t worked for this org across decades now.

 

[Ruggs225]

Depends on his next contract and what garand looks like. Anything 7 and under i am keeping him. Between 7-8 im hesitant, anything over 8 i trade him.

 

[CTRanger]

Maybe we should think about trading our 11.6 mil all world floater rather than our 5.6 mil all world goalie

 

[Crease]

If the Rangers have an identity, it’s good goaltending. This league is weird. You need good goaltending to win. The rub is that both the future Hall of Famer you’re paying $8M for and the random call-up getting paid $2M can go on heaters and play months at .940 SV%. You’re paying Igor because he’s more likely to go on that heater, but the upside is the same for both goalies.

 

[irishlaxburger2]

Maybe we should think about trading our 11.6 mil all world floater rather than our 5.6 mil all world goalie

Unfortunately, only one of them actually has any trade value.

Which begs the question - why does this team constantly sign contracts that make their players untradeable from a value perspective? Not to mention the NMCs…

 

[irishlaxburger2]

I also disagree with the assertion you need good goaltending to win a Cup. Darcy Kuemper had a .902 save percentage last playoffs.

Outside of Vasi - whose team performed outrageous cap manipulation to fit them all in - the list of previous Cup winning goaltenders is pretty putrid. And that list likely gets even worse the way these Playoffs are playing out.

 

[bleedblue94]

the issue isnt the allocation of money to a top goalie, the real issue is that a top goalie tends to prop up stats for other skaters on the team and then mediocre players end up getting over paid for what they actually bring. this has happened for decades in nyr with henke, montreal with price, and so on.