Rangers Rumors: Henrik Lundqvist to Be Bought out of Contract on Wednesday

Wednesday will reportedly bring about an end to an era in the Big Apple.  

According to Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic and Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the New York Rangers will buy out goaltender Henrik Lundqvist's contract Wednesday. That means his legendary career with the Blueshirts will be coming to an end.

Brooks explained the Rangers worked with Lundqvist in deciding to buy out the final season of a seven-year, $59.5 million deal that started in 2014-15. The move creates an additional $3 million of cap space for 2020-21 and $1.5 million in dead space for 2021-22.

The writing appeared to be on the wall for the 38-year-old when the Rangers relied on Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev down the stretch of the 2019-20 campaign.

That tandem will surely be between the pipes next season for New York, while Lundqvist will either retire or perhaps sign a short deal with another contender. He may even assume a backup role as someone who could provide veteran leadership and playoff experience to a locker room looking for just that.

Still, Lundqvist leaves New York as a franchise icon.

He is the sixth-winningest goaltender in NHL history with a 459-310-96 record and sports a 2.43 goals against average and .918 save percentage. The five-time All-Star won the 2011-12 Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender in the NHL and helped lead the Rangers to the playoffs 12 times during his 15 years with the team.

New York reached the 2014 Stanley Cup Final during that span of excellence but lost to the Los Angeles Kings.

It was the closest Lundqvist has come to winning a coveted Stanley Cup title, which is the one thing missing from his illustrious resume.