Why Igor Shesterkin Had Better...

There's a good reason why the Rangers supposedly indomitable goalkeeper should rein in his agent if the rep gets too crazy in upcoming negotiations with MSG moneymen.

For starters, we all agree that Igor Shesterkin is good.

We don't agree on the key issue of just how super-duper-competent he really is and how much he should be paid before breaking the Garden's bank.

As former Rangers Cup-winning general manager Neil Smith noted the other day, Shesterkin's agent will demand that his client be "the highest-paid goalie in the NHL."

But we all know that Izzy isn't the best goalie in major league hockey; nor has he ever won a Stanley Cup. Nor has he ever reached The Cup Final.

So, what makes him – or his rep – think he deserves to be the highest-paid goalie in history? Hey, agent, there are a couple of puck-stoppers who can teach Shesty what it means to be a champ.

Sergei Bobrovsky is one. Ditto, Andrei Vasilevskiy. They're legitimate Cup-winners, not pretenders with media press agents touting The Padded Ranger beyond his worth.

As mentioned above, Rangers money-manager Chris Drury has a couple of arguments that could calm the Shesterkin camp.

And, if the Blueshirts' GM really wants to get nasty he could open the Rangers history book to the Chapter called "Why Cup-winning Rangers Great Goalie Davey Kerr Quit In His Prime."

One year removed from winning the 1940 Stanley Cup, Rangers goalie Dave Kerr demanded – first mistake – that New York hockey boss Lester Patrick give him a raise to $10,000 a season.

By the time Lester stopped laughing, he replied, "No, my friend, and that's that." Well, guess what? Patrick wasn't kidding around. That was THAT.

Lester knew he had a good replacement and immediately turned the pads over to younger Sugar Jim Henry who merely puck-stopped the Rangers to first place in 1941-42. (The Maven has to check and see if Drury has a latter-day Sugar Jim Henry in Hartford.)

Meanwhile, Shesty might want to know what happened to Dave Kerr. Well, I'll make it easy for everyone. Here's what Ken Campbell wrote in The Hockey News Best 100 Goalies special edition: "Kerr's inability to angle for a better contract ultimately led to him leaving the game at 31 when he had more to give!"

Shesterkin may believe that he has more to give. Yeah; in the KHL!