Henrik Lundqvist returning to New York amid uncertain Rangers future

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Henrik Lundqvist is returning to New York. “We’re coming back to NYC to start the school year there,” the King said via an email exchange with The Post on Wednesday. “Then we’ll go from there.” The 38-year-old netminder and his wife, Therese, have two daughters, eight-year-old Charlise and five-year-old Juli, who are enrolled in school in Manhattan. The crew is scheduled to arrive in New York over the weekend.

 Lundqvist’s future as a Ranger is unknown, though the strong likelihood is that he has played his final game in the Blueshirt. President John Davidson, who had a private chat with No. 30 immediately upon landing at White Plains following the club’s elimination by Carolina and return from the bubble in Toronto, has stated definitively that the team would not carry three goaltenders next season. 

The face of the franchise essentially since his rookie 2005-06 season (though Jaromir Jagr most certainly at least shared top billing that year), Lundqvist started only one of the team’s final 19 regular-season games, sliding behind 24-year-oId’s Igor Shesterkin and Alex Georgiev on the depth chart. The Swede did get the call for the first two qualifying round matches against the Hurricanes while Shesterkin was sidelined with a groin issue, and allowed seven goals on 71 shots in the 3-2 and 4-1 defeats. But his streak of 129 consecutive playoff starts that began with the third game of the 2006 first round against the Devils came to a close when Shesterkin was in nets for the elimination 4-1 loss in Game 3.

 Lundqvist has one more year on his contract that carries an $8.5 million cap hit. If the Blueshirts buy out the goaltender, they would save $3 million on the cap while adding $5.5 million of dead space for 2020-21 and $1.5 million of dead space for the following season. The Blueshirts already are carrying nearly $7.495 million in dead space into the 2020-21 offseason. The buyout period starts on either Sept. 25 or on the first day of the Stanley Cup final (whichever is later) and runs through either Oct. 8 or six days after the Cup clincher (whichever is later). The goaltender and Davidson are expected to meet at some point to resolve the situation.

 If, as all signs indicate, the Blueshirts go forward with a Shesterkin-Georgiev tandem, it is unknown whether Lundqvist would retire or seek to continue his career with another NHL team. His return to New York effectively closes the door on the possibility that he’d play in Sweden for Frolunda with his twin brother Joel. Should Lundqvist, whose 459 victories rank sixth in NHL history, opt to retire, the Rangers would of course receive massive help in their cap situation. It is believed the entire $8.5 million would be wiped off the books, though the Devils were charged $250,000 per when Ilya Kovalchuk retired from the NHL to return to Russia in 2013 with 12 years remaining on his contract. 

 The goaltender market will be flooded this offseason. Braden Holtby is a pending free agent, as are Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Corey Crawford, Cam Talbot and Thomas Greiss. If Lehner remains in Vegas, Marc-Andre Fleury is likely to be available in a trade. Matt Murray is on the trade market. Arizona could opt to deal Darcy Kuemper. Who knows about Jonathan Quick and the rebuilding Kings?  There are decisions to make. In this sense, nothing has changed from March and nothing has changed from August. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

 Labor Day beckons and Henrik Lundqvist is returning to New York.    

https://nypost.com/2020/09/02/henrik-lundqvist-returning-to-new-york-amid-uncertain-rangers-future/