The New York Rangers made Henrik Lundqvist the highest paid goaltender on December 5, 2013. Although it was a hefty price, paying King Henrik was worth every penny.
Henrik Lundqvist has been starting goalie and fan favorite since his rookie season in 2005-2006. He has helped the New York Rangers sustain a great level of success in recent memory.
With a rebuild on the way, some fans are questioning the 36-year old’s worth. Was the contract extension he signed in 2013 too long? Does he even have any value to a rebuilding hockey club?
With his contract extension that made him the richest goaltender in NHL history, Lundqvist helped carry the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final that very season. Although his herculean efforts came up short of raising the Cup, Henrik Lunqvist proved the worth of his contract right there and then. He had been a rock for the Rangers before the extension and has continued solid play since.
Never having a save percentage under .910, he has been a force of stability on a declining team. His cap hit of $8.5 million starting in 2014-2015 took up over 12 percent of the $69 million salary cap.
Questioning the worth of the contract by will done here by comparisons to other goaltenders. By using a slew of older contract extensions before his, as well as a few afterwards, it will be easy to tell if Henrik has been worth the money or overpaid entirely.
By using the cap space totals of each season in which the respective goal tender was signed, an accurate percentage total can be found by combining that with the yearly annual value of each contract.
Contracts signed before Henrik’s
Tuukka Rask
After the 2013 cup run of the Boston Bruins, then general manager Peter Chiarelli was in a bind. Goaltender Tuukka Rask had bet on himself with a “prove it” contract that season and did just that. Rask earned himself an eight year, $56 million contract, tying him for the highest in the league with Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne.
Tuukka Rask was stellar in the playoff run, leading the league in goals against average at 1.84 and save percentage with .940. Since then Tuukka Rask has been solid for a team reloading on the fly.
His numbers have declined since the 2013-2014 season, although it could be argued that the team around him attributed to that. Despite that, his goals against average has hovered around 2.30 and his save percentage at a respectable .916.
At the time of his signing, Rask’s cap hit took up $7 million a year against a total cap of $64.3 million dollars. Rasks deal took up about 11 percent of the total cap starting in the 2013-2014 season.
Pekka Rinne
The player that tied for Rask in average annual cap value was fellow Fin Pekka Rinne. Signing his deal way back in the 2011-2012 season, Rinne became a crucial piece for the Nashville Predators and was given the largest contract in Predators history.
The statistics are as good for Rinne as they were for Rask after inking his new deal. He has enjoyed several seasons of success with five seasons with a save percentage at or above .910. His goals against average has fluctuated however. These averages have been as low as 2.18 to as high as 2.77.
Starting in the 2012-2013, his average salary cap hit is $7 million dollars. Against a total salary cap of $70.2 (pro-rated due to the NHL lockout that season) Rinne’s contract took up about 10% of the team’s total salary cap hits.
Jonathan Quick
The only 10-year contract extension on this list belongs to Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Coming off of a Stanley Cup championship, Quick was extended by Los Angeles to a tune of $5.8 million dollars a season across ten seasons in 2012.
Carrying the lowest cap hit of the three goalies mentioned before him, Quick carried the Kings to another Stanley Cup championship against New York in 2014.
His statistics are also comparable, if not better, than the goalies listed.
His save percentage hasn’t been lower that .915 since his extension. Quick’s goals against average was higher than normal this past season at 2.40, but before that has never been higher than 2.24 since signing his deal. Possibly the best deal on this list, the Kings did well to lock up their franchise net minder.
Quick’s paltry $5.8 million yearly cap hit only accounted for 9% of the 2013-2014 salary cap of $64.3 million dollars. That deal only continues to look better with the cap rising each season.
Contracts signed after Henrik’s
Carey Price
In a complete head-scratcher, the Montreal Canadiens signed Carey Price to an eight-year, $10.5 million a year deal in 2017. Coming off of a bounce back season where he was stellar after an injury riddled 2015-2016 season, Price signed the richest contract for a goaltender in NHL history.
Price has always been a fantastic net minder and has been a major reason Montreal had returned to relevance. However, after a rough 2017-2018, Montreal fans are wondering if the contract will be worth it.
Price finished the season with a save percentage of just .900 and a goals against average of 3.11. These represented a few career worst for the Canadiens’ net minder, as they missed the playoffs with one of the worst records in the league.
As the team begins to rebuild Price’s exorbitant contract will linger. Across the next eight seasons, Carey Price’s $10.5 million contract will remain a topic of conversation. With his new contract kicking in this upcoming season, Price’s deal will take up over 13 percent of the team’s $79.5 million dollar total salary cap.
Connor Hellebuyck
Winnipeg locked up their goaltender this off-season after their first Western Conference Finals appearance. Connor Hellebuyck was fantastic this past season with a .924 save percentage and 2.34 goals against average. He was as good in the playoffs with a .922 save percentage and 2.36 goals against average in 17 starts.
Being only 25 years old, Hellebuyck is Winnipeg’s answer in net for the foreseeable future. He will offer a stability Winnipeg has lacked for years, and with an incredibly young and talented team, could be a constant difference maker in the playoffs for years to come.
Much like Rask’s contract, this is a deal for a young piece going forward. It was completed with the idea that this will be the player Winnipeg will rely on to get to the next level. Hellebuyck’s contract of $6.1 million a season for six seasons is proof of that.
His cap hit is lower than most at his skill level, and will take up less of a percentage of his team’s total cap. With the salary cap at $79.5 million next season, Hellebuyck will only account for just over seven percent of Winnipeg’s total cap.
John Gibson
Another young goaltender who saw a colossal pay-day was Anaheim’s John Gibson. His contract is a slightly richer than Hellebuyck’s, at a yearly rate of $6.4 million a year after this upcoming season.
His contract at a yearly rate is similar enough to Hellebuyck’s for comparison.
Gibson has been a boon for Anaheim; usurping Frederick Andersen for the starting job in the 2015-2016 season. His stats show what Anaheim believes in him, as his save percentages have never been lower than .920 in three seasons.
Gibson has also had solid goals against averages, with two seasons below 2.25. There is no wonder why the Ducks have invested so much into the young goaltender, the trick now will be to surround him with talent in front of him.
Has the King been worth his weight in gold?
The short answer here is yes.
Henrik Lundqvist has been the consistent bright spot for the New York Rangers throughout the years. His sustained personal success just can not be overlooked, and even as he reaches the twilight of his career, there’s no reason to believe his production will drop off of a cliff.
His .915 save percentage is indicative of this, seeing the fourth most shots in the league last season. The team around him is getting younger and more inexperienced. With the prospect of the trades of veteran players, Henrik’s importance in the locker room will also be a key reason in the continued development of young players. They are going to need a guy who has been through it all before; a player that they can use as a role model to become a professional.
Lundqvist has been an amazing New York Ranger. He is easily the franchise’s best goaltender and a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. Even with the rebuild on the horizon, Henrik stated that he wanted to see this team through the hard times. In a world where athletes quit on their teams and demand trades out of situations, Henrik Lundqvist wants to stay.
His contract is argued by some as weighty now, but when he signed it he was worth every penny and more. It could be argued that he could still sustain a level of success to make his remaining years under contract worth it as well. Whatever lies in Lundqvist’s future one thing is for certain, this King’s ransom was worth paying.