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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterOct 28, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
CloseKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
Contract negotiations are a delicate thing. Some NHL players prefer tuning them out all together during the season. Others might want the process wrapped up quickly — but fairly — and listen in on every detail year round.
The key is not to let those conversations be a distraction to what is actually being achieved on the ice.
Just ask Alexis Lafreniere.
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He’s the latest player to sign a long-term extension, inking a seven-year, $52.15 million pact with the New York Rangers last week on the heels of a breakout 2023-24 campaign where the 23-year-old tallied 28 goals and 57 points in 82 games. If Lafreniere continues that sort of growth his big deal will be a sweet steal for the Rangers.
Now that Lafreniere is locked in long term, who might be next to secure the proverbial bag?
There’s already speculation around what the likes of Connor McDavid, Cale Makar and Kirill Kaprizov could receive on a fresh extension, which they’re all eligible to sign beginning next July.
After conversations with league insiders, here is a sample of players — from the obvious to perhaps more obscure — that are poised to (possibly) get paid sooner rather than later. And with the NHL salary cap expected to keep climbing upwards from its current $88 million, there’s (potentially) even more money to spare when those contracts are doled out.
The superstars
It was a gasp heard ’round the hockey world when ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported earlier this month that Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin had turned down an eight-year, $88 million extension — which would have made Shesterkin the highest-paid goalie in NHL history.
Make no mistake: Shesterkin will be paid handsomely at some point — in New York or somewhere else if the pending unrestricted free agent so chooses. And that deal will recalibrate the market for goaltenders going forward.
“My guess is Shesterkin…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/42038810/nhl-2024-25-contract-free-agents-shesterkin-marner-rantanen
Author : Kristen Shilton
Publish date : 2024-10-28 11:55:30
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