NHL Rumors: Igor Shesterkin, Linus Ullmark, and Phil Kessel

How high will Igor Shesterkin‘s next contact go?

TSN: Pierre LeBrun said Igor Shesterkin will likely be the highest-paid NHL goalie, topping Carey Price‘s $10.5 million, the New York Rangers have told Shesterkin that they are okay with that. LeBrun adds that Shesterkin wants to reset the goalie market.

“If you think of Sorokin and Hellebuyck and Saros, all under $9 million a year. In fact, Saros the freshest of those three deals at $7.74 million a year. Hellebuyck has won two Vezinas, Shesterkin has won one. Shesterkin’s camp is looking to absolutely blow past those three contracts.

The question is, if the Rangers are willing to go north of $10.5 million, and the deal’s not done yet, where will this end up? Is it $11,12, 13 million? We’ll wait and find out. In the meantime, Shesterkin would like to get this done before the regular season starts, or else he will shelve talks is what he’s telling the Rangers.”

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TSN: From Pierre LeBrun’s early version of Insider Trading on Igor Shesterkin.

“The bottom line is that they believe the cap is going up, which it is, hence the percentage of the cap that the can pay players is going up. Even though other team around the league are trying to minimize what they pay goalies, Shesterkin’s camp says not them.”

The Ottawa Senators and Linus Ullmark will talk extension down the road

TSN: Chris Johnston said that the Ottawa Senators and the reps for goaltender Linus Ullmark haven’t held any substantive contract extension talks. Ullmark would be a UFA after the season.

“Now, that’s not because they don’t intend to do so. Obviously, Ottawa thinks highly of the player. They would love to keep him, but I think the strategy right now is maybe to let this breathe a little bit, give him time to get comfortable in the city and with his new team, and then broach those contract discussions at somewhere weeks or months down the road.”

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Phil Kessel doesn’t want to retire yet

TSN: Pierre LeBrun said that Phil Kessel isn’t ready to retire from the NHL just and he’s looking for a PTO if the fit is right.

“And one of the things that his camp has alerted teams that have called about him is that ‘don’t worry about that ironman streak.’ It’s not going to be an issue. He’s open to a part-time role and not playing every game, and that’s a pretty key departure, I think, from the past. So the bottom line is, ‘Phil the Thrill’ is still open to coming back if the fit is right.”