PuckPedia reported this morning that the Rangers have moved Igor Shesterkin from long-term injured reserve to season-ending injured reserve.
The goalie is now ineligible to play in the regular season and the playoffs. For a team sitting third in the Metropolitan Division, that is a heavy blow in net, and it comes with a financial side effect.
PuckPedia noted that the switch raises New York's LTIR benefit from the limit of $3.9M to the goalie's full cap hit.
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The post cuts off before it gives the full figure. The sheet lists Shesterkin's cap hit at $11,567,857, so the cap room the Rangers gain is substantial. Chris Drury now has far more flexibility than he had a day ago.
Shesterkin, 30, has played just 5 games this season. He was listed with a knee injury on the latest injury report, and the sheet shows an expected return of at least Sep 15, a date that has now been overtaken by this decision.
For a goalie who has appeared in 330 regular-season games over his career and 44 more in the playoffs, losing the rest of the year is brutal. The Rangers drafted him in the fourth round, 118th overall, in 2014, and he has been the backbone of the franchise ever since.
What can Chris Drury do with all that cap space?
The answer is simple: he can shop. The Rangers are 12-8-1 and 13th in the NHL, with a 5-5-0 record over their last 10, and they just beat the Canucks 5-1 on Friday. This is a team that is in the mix, not one waving a white flag.
With no Shesterkin for the rest of the season, the first priority has to be a goalie. Relying on the current tandem with a roster that gave up 57 goals through 21 games is a risky plan. Drury has the room to go get help, and he should use it.
The extra space also opens the door to a bigger trade, a forward or a defenseman who could push the Rangers up the standings. A team with a +7 goal differential does not have much margin for error, and it knows it.
Mike Sullivan's group returns home Monday against the Canadiens, with an 8-2-0 home record to lean on. Whether the Rangers use their new cap flexibility before the trade market heats up is the question every other front office will be watching.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
What should the Rangers do with their new cap space?
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