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Extension fit for a King updated
By Rob Abruzzese on February 15th, 2008 9:26 AM |
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update by gozer…The final figures: six-years, $41.25 million, or roughly $6.875 million per season. That sum is second only to Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo, who will earn $7 million next season. I’m not saying the Rangers shouldn’t have done it; I’m just saying that’s a ton of money for a team that’s already committed $86.75 million to a pair of franchise pivots. I might feel differently if the King weren’t 13th in the league in GAA, 27th in save percentage, and just three games over .500 on the year. He does look great in a suit however.
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originally posted on february 13th, 2008…
It took the Rangers seven seasons to get back to the playoffs, but on Tuesday they made a move which should keep them a contender for the next six years.
The Rangers and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist reached a preliminary agreement yesterday believed to be worth $6.5 million for 6 seasons according to the NY Daily News.
The Rangers and their 25-year old goaltender failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal this past off-season and Lundqvist was brought back on a 1-year deal worth $4.25. Since January 1, the earliest date the team could negotiate a new contract with Lundqvist, his agent Don Meehan and Ranger’s general manager Glen Sather have been at work on a new deal.
The deal is a big one for the Rangers because if Lundqvist was not under contract by July 1 he would have become a restricted free agent. Under rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, teams would be able to place bids on him. The Rangers would then either have to match those bids or lose him.
Losing Lundqvist would be a big blow to an organization with Cup aspirations. Goalies talented enough to win an Olympic gold medal and finish as a Vezina Trophy finalists in their first two seasons are about as common as goals scored by Colton Orr.
Lundqvist has been hot and cold this season. For the first two months of the season he was nothing short of dominating going 13-9 with four shutouts and a 1.82 goals against average. Lately it has been a different story. Since December his record is a plain 11-12 and he has only two road wins during that time.
It is possible that since this time his mind has been preoccupied by contract negotiations and now that this is behind him he will go back to focusing on hockey. Last season Lundqvist helped carry the Rangers to the playoffs going 11-2 down the stretch and for $39 million bet on the organization expecting similar results.
This move also gives the Rangers a big trading chip. The team was probably reluctant to deal the 23-year old Al Montoya because of the chance of losing King Hank during the off-season. Now that he’s locked up for the next six years Montoya becomes more expendable especially since the emergence of another 23-year old goalie Miika Wiikman. Wiikman is playing in his first full season in the AHL and has a better winning percentage and GAA than Montoya.
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There is currently one response to “Extension fit for a King updated”
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Wiikman’s actually taken Montoya’s job in Hartford – not good. The Rangers may have blown their opportunity to get serious value for this guy. Let’s just hope he doesn’t become a colossal bust of hugh jessiman proportions.
also, on another note, Lundqvist’s father has been very ill this season and I believe had brain surgery earlier in the year…so who knows where his focus is at.
Personally, I think it was a mistake to not bring a guy like Montoya up last season or early this year in order to see if Al can play at this level, and in order to give Hank some real competition. No, Valiquette doesn’t count.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t have ended up signing Hank anyway, but in the salary cap era, I would’ve had to think a little harder if Montoya proved he was up for the challenge.
It’s great to have Hank securely in the fold, but $6.5 is an awful lot of money for a team that’s also paying big bucks to Gomez and Drury, will take a cap hit next season on Shanahan’s bonus money, and will also need to re-sign or replace Jaromir Jagr.