Play is paused, but the clock is ticking for “King” Henrik

It’s been nearly two months since the NHL was paused by the COVID-19 pandemic and nobody knows when the league will resume play. However, this much is certain, time is running out for one New York Rangers great.

Henrik Lundqvist was picked by the New York Rangers in the seventh round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, the Swedish goalie has proved to be the best ever late-round pick, earned the nickname “King” Henrik, conquered just about every goaltending record in team history, and fell three games short of winning the Stanley Cup.

Twenty years. Time sure went by fast. And for Lundqvist, who in 2019-20 saw his reign end as the Rangers’ number one goalie, his tenure on Broadway might have expired.

Whenever the NHL is able to play the next season, probably in the late fall or even after the New Year, it’s possible the Rangers buy out his the final year of his contract and its $8.5 million cap hit — unless he agrees to a trade and the team finds a taker.

A buyout would save the Rangers $3 million in cap space, which is at a premium since they’re already bloated with $6.1 million in dead space in 2020-21 (plus the $1.5 million for 2019-20), incurred when they bought out defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk over the summer.

It’s not practical for the team to keep Lundqvist and 24-year-old Alexandar Georgiev behind projected starter Igor Shesterkin, who’s also 24. And If the 2019-20 season is never resumed, who knows? Could it even be possible that “King” Henrik has already played his final game for the Rangers?

In the minds of some Rangers fans, the thought of trading, buying out, or benching Lundqvist is blasphemous — akin to a blue-seater saying something like: “Ya know, that Denis Potvin wasn’t really so bad … let’s stop chanting he sucks.”

These fans unequivocally refuse to cut the cord with the 38-year old Future Hall of Famer.

They point to his Vezina Trophy in 2012 and revision of nearly all of the team’s goaltending records.

They argue that with stronger and deeper teams in front of him, he’d have a Stanley Cup championship ring to go with his crown.

The former is absolutely true; the latter is probably accurate.

They claim that his mediocre (for him) season (10-12-3 record, 3.16 goals-against average and .905 save percentage) are not the product of age and high mileage, but the result of sabotage on the Rangers’ part by giving him “tougher” games after longer layoffs than his younger counterparts.

This is where I take issue.