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Halak Looks To Get Paid

June 18, 2010, 1:29 AM ET [ Comments]
Andy Strickland
St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Recently goaltender Chris Mason was in St. Louis house hunting as he was gearing up to sign what he thought would be a three year extension with the St. Louis Blues. Now Mason is left without a team as his focus quickly shifts towards free agency beginning July first.

While Mason was preparing for his third year in St. Louis, GM Doug Armstrong was working behind the scenes to land the marquee goaltender available this summer. Jaroslav Halak may not have been an unrestricted free agent but NHL teams were well aware he could be had for the right price. Or in this case a reduced price as other teams had what would be considered better offers on the table The Blues were quick to pounce as they now prepare to get the 25 year old Slovak signed to what will surely shape up to be a hefty pricetag.


When the season ended the Blues initiated conversations with Montreal which concluded with St. Louis getting what they hope is an elite goaltender in exchange for a couple of prospects. The main piece headed to Montreal is Lars Eller, a former first rounder who has potential to develop into a top six forward.

While Eller certainly carries strong potential, the Blues feel Halak is proven demonstrated by his play the second half of this season and into the playoffs. Halak was the biggest story through three rounds of the playoffs and one could argue if Montreal had reached the finals he would have won the Conn Smythe trophy win or lose.

The Jaroslav Halak story really began several years ago when he starred at the U-18 world Championships. He stood on his head defeating Alexander Ovechkin and Russia en route to earning a medal for his country. That performance led to Montreal selecting Halak in the 9th round. He wound up in Lewiston, Maine where he played one season before being named the top goaltender in the Québec Major Junior Hockey League. The following year he would turn pro and play a year in the ECHL with Long Beach where he led the league in goals against average and save%. Fast forward to 2006-2007 and Halak would continue to get the attention of the Montreal organization. He was one of the top two goalies in the AHL that year and played 16 NHL games. He played all the important games down the stretch that year falling one point shy of making the playoffs.

The following June Montreal would draft phenom Carey Price which forced Halak to spend nearly all of the 2007-2008 season in Hamilton. It wasn´t until the 08-09 season that Halak would see semi-regular NHL action after signing a modest two-year contract.


Before it was all said and done Halak´s play would earn him the reputation of a game changing goaltender whose play in the playoffs put close to $18 million in the back pockets of the Montreal Owners.

Now the pressure is on Halak to take the St. Louis Blues to the next level. If Yaroslav can handle the pressure of playing in Montreal there is no reason to suggest St. Louis will be too much to handle. Dealing with two or three reporters a day should be a breath of fresh air compared to the crazed environment he´s come to know in Montreal.

Halak was the underdog in Montreal and in reality couldn´t lose, if he were to return to Montreal next season he could have lost. This past season he got the fans and media behind him and he went with it.

I don´t quite understand why Montreal was so eager to move the goaltender so quickly. We´re still a week away from the draft and as we all know that´s usually when trade talks begin to truly heat up. Sure there were better offers on the table from a few Eastern Conference teams but the organization wasn´t about to go there for obvious reasons. I´m also told the last thing Montreal was looking to do was send their prime piece of real estate to a contending club that would make the organization look bad in the short term. The last thing Montreal wants is for this deal to bite them in the you know what. We all know their fans and media would never play it down. They wan tno part of any negative backlash.

GM Pierre Gauthier is well aware of the work ahead for the St. Louis Blues and may see the Blues as a safer trading partner that won´t make him look worse than he already does in the eyes of many Montreal fans. Regardless Doug Armstrong, John Davidson and the rest of the Blues organization is happy to have him.


Talks of a contract extension for Halak will begin in Los Angeles next week. From what I´m being told, fans should expect Halak to look to receive a contract that´s on par with some of the other top number one goaltenders in the league. In reality Halak carries much of the bargaining power here. He´s coming off an incredible run and has múltiple massive, gigantic offers from Russia already in his back pocket. I´m would expect very little noegotiating here. Halak and his agent likely have a number in mind and if they don´t get what they want they won´t hesistate to bolt for the KHL. They will want a long term contract that reflects what other undisputed number one goaltneders are making nowadays.

With that being said, the Blues didn´t make the trade to offer this kid his qualifying number. They´ve done a nice job of creating a buzz by pulling off this deal. There is no option but to get a deal done and they are well aware of this fact. I would be very surprised if he were to sign a deal less than four years that averages out less than $4 million per season. Blues Ownership had to be aware of this before signing off on the trade. This deal was a more than reasonable risk to take.


This trade has Doug Armstrong´s fingerprints all over it. He deserves a ton of credit for pulling it off. The fact that he was able to get this done without moving a roster player is pretty incredible to be honest. This is a great deal for St. Louis assuming they get him signed.

This sets up the Blues goaltending for the future pretty nicely. They´re not acquiring a 21 year old kid. The combination of Halak and Ty Conklin gives them a very winnable one,two combination heading into next season. Last season Conklin played .500 hockey and didn´t win a home game. You can´t make that stuff up! How do you do that?

I do feel badly for Mason. He badly wanted to stay in St. Louis and truly thought the two sides were closing in on a deal. The Blues recently offered him a 3 year extension at $3.25 million which he may have accepted if he knew there were talks going on with Montreal. Instead Mason wanted three years at $3.75. The Blues told Masson they would discuss things with Ownership and call him back. The call he received from Armstrong on Thursday was not the one he was expecting. I should point out Mason rejected a three year extension at $3.75 before the season. All I know is this, the Blues are better off after having Mason in their organization. He´s what every NHL player should strive to be like.

Mason felt blindsided by the news especially after the Blues asked for his imput regarding a goaltending coach. He felt he had every reason to believe he´d be wearing a Blues uniform next October.


Who is Lars Eller?

For Montreal fans out there, Lars Eller is a nice looking prospect who should play in the NHL next season. He`s a good carácter guy with rgood speed and good skill. Can he be a top six guy? That`s the big question. He´s not a teriffic playmaker, if he shows a a little more creativity with his teammates he`ll have a stronger chance to be a top six forward. There are times he will try to do a little too much on his own wich to me isn`t always a bad thing but he needs to be stronger at using his teammates. He can score but I would not consider him a great finisher.

Ian Schultz is a powerful kid who brings a physical game to the ice. He Captained the Calgary Hitmen this past season and the Blues were very impressed with is play during their Memorial Cup Run.



Blues Clues!

The Blues have had little discussión with Carlo Colaiacovo since offering him a two year extension slightly above his $1.4 salary last season.

Former Ottawa goaltending coach Eli Wilson has expressed interest in the Blues goaltending coaching vacancy.

Corey Hirsch remains a strong candidate for the goaltending coaching job as well.

The Blues expect newly acquired TJ Hensick to make a strong push to make the roster next season.


Please note that if you have difficulty reading this, I am sitting in an Internet café in Mexico writing this story on a spanish keyboard. Every Word is underlined in red indicating the Word is mis-spelled because it is not written in spanish. Many of you are used to my gramatical errors by now but this story may have even more than usuall!

Mucho gracias!


More to come.

Andy Strickland

[email protected]
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