1. The biggest obstacle to Igor Shesterkin's new contract will be Iggy's agent. One way or the other he'lll be able to retire on the percentage of whatever Iggy gets.
2. What the rep will use as $ fodder will be the ton of teammate quotes stating, "We couldn't do it without him" and variations on that superman theme.
3. MSG's chief negotiator might point out that Shesty couldn't even beat the Devils in the first round last year.
4. The Garden's guy might add that Iggy couldn't even beat Old Man Bobrovsky when the chips were down in the Canes series.
5. Another good Rangers front office case would be the fact that there were times this past regular season when Iggy was so bad, Jonathan Quick was the better netminder.
6. Nobody on The Garden side figures to bring coach Peter Laviolette into the debate. But it sure is fun to imagine the dialogue. Theoretically, Lavvy's two cents worth could trim a million off the goalie's asking price.
7. Edmonton's resounding Final Cup round proves one thing. That is that the rookie coach leading the Oilers to glory, Kris Knoblauch, should have been the Blueshirts' top coaching pic and not Pistol Pete. (The MSG brass knew good and well that KK was a winner in Hartford.)
8. One of the most compelling arguments against Lavvy – as one scout puts it – is "that he thought too highly of his team"
9. Other beefs against Pete include the following: "Not vocal enough" plus he "failed to call time-outs in pressure moments." And from The Maven: Worst of all, he misplayed his curious asset, Matt Rempe.
10. Then again, the decision to play rusty Blake Wheeler – it could be argued – was a much worse decision than ruining Rempe.
11. Or should I say playing Chytil was a big boo-boo when you realize that the club was doing just fine without a medically questionable forward.
12. Finally, if PP quarterback Adam Fox's injury was that bad, Lavvy should have realized that the ace should have been scratched and replaced by Zac Jones.
13. Here's a question that The Maven never thought about but now finds interesting: How come – from game to game – only one of the Big Three scoring stars played a truly good contest throughout the Florida Follies?
14. Here's one way in which Chris Drury could shake up Shesterkin's negotiating team; except it only would work if Edmonton wins The Cup tonight.
15. Tell the rep that Shesty will only get about a million more than the Oilers' "great Cup-winning Skinner and we'll talk from there!"
