NHL Insider States West Conference Team Preparing Major Trade Offer For Shesterkin
It was revealed from Eklund of hockeybuzz.com that the Los Angeles Kings are preparing a major trade offer to the New York Rangers to pry Igor Shesterkin from the Blue Shirts.
This news has developed as the Russian netminder turned down an 8-year $88 million contract. This contract would have put him as the highest paid goaltender in the NHL with a cap hit of $11 million per season. The current highest contract still is held by former Canadiens goaltender Carey Price who had a cap hit of 10.5 million per season.
The Kings have not had a bonafide number one goaltender over the past couple of years and are currently relying on Darcy Kuemper who has had inconsistent play for the past couple of years and David Rittich who is bounced around the league after having a tenure with the Calgary Flames.
Adding a player of Shesterkin's caliber will certainly boost the Los Angeles Kings much like any other team in the league if they were to acquire him. The Kings would likely have to send some top talent back to the Rangers while having the cap space to accommodate Shesterkin this year and going forward.
The 28-year-old has played all his career with the Rangers and has won the Vezina and helped the Rangers break a team record of 55 wins in the regular season. He has played 215 games, has a record of 136-59-18 with a goal against of 2.43 and a save percentage of .921.
It remains to be seen if a deal is worked out between both clubs, but it's imperative the Rangers find a way to make this work and sign him long term in my view.
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Rangers should consider trading Igor Shesterkin to the Los Angeles Kings for a huge return? | ||
| Yes - Too much money for a goalie | 84 | 53.2 % |
| No - Never going to happen | 74 | 46.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
