Halak to the Blues

			2009-2010 NHL Statistics				2011 Cap Info
To St.  Louis	Position	Age	MIN	W	SO	P	Years	Cap Hit
Jaroslav Halak	Goalie	25	2,629	26	5	62	0	RFA
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To Montreal	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Lars Eller	Forward	21	7	2	0	2	1	$875,000
Ian Schultz	Forward	20	0	0	0	0	2	$875,000

The Montreal Canadiens have made an impact decision on their 2011 campaign, dealing playoff standout goalie Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues for a pair of young prospects that have been developing in their system and the junior ranks.

The Blues have a vacancy in their goaltending ranks with Chris Mason heading towards unrestricted free agency and Ty Conklin probably feeling more comfortable as a solid back-up and now they have filled it with a goaltender who will be looking at a number one role and some solid minutes for 2011 and help a growing team towards the playoffs again.

Halak ranked 18th in pool scoring among goaltenders in 2010 with his 62 points, so he does stand in some good company, despite splitting a fair amount of time with Carey Price, who currently looks to be the guy in Montreal they can go with.   Chris Mason, who will likely see what the free agent market is like, ranked just ahead of Halak with 64 points in 2010, but played almost 900 more minutes than Halak, so there is a better wins/minutes ratio.

The Canadiens add a little bit more depth to their youth by adding both Eller and Schultz.  Eller has featured a few times on the blog, as he was trying to make the Blues out of training camp and he even featured on the Selection Sheet last season as the Blues prospect in Box 9.  Schultz has been developing with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL, putting up some solid numbers across the board and might be a pretty good prospect now for the Habs.

As for the salary cap, the Blues will get the chance to sign Jaroslav Halak to a number that they can feel comfortable with as a restricted free agent this Summer.  I have seen some numbers projected for a guy like Halak and the $4.5 million range does sound about right for him, but the Blues also have the ability to see what his value is through arbitration, if negotiations don't go as smoothly off the hop with Halak and his agent.  The Blues have all sorts of room to move as well this Summer, even if they have a franchise budget for spending that isn't at the cap ceiling.  Currently, the Blues have 12 players signed on for $28.5 million, so any deal that Halak is supposedly worth, should fit in their scheme nicely.


Well, paint me shocked if this is what the going rate is for a restricted free agent goalie that had his stock lift in the playoffs.  I would imagine that Halak would have been worth two prospect forwards before the playoffs, if he didn't take the number one job away for their excellent run.  Nevertheless, this looks to be a great deal for the Blues, who are already knee deep in forwards making their way through the system.  Now, they get a chance to sign a potentially top end goalie, possibly giving him some franchise perks.

Also, I can't say that I think the Canadiens are done with their wheeling and dealing, they should have some more aces in their sleeve... unless they deal them away for more prospects.