Earlier today the New York Islanders finally did what many have expected for a few weeks now. The struggling Jaroslav Halak, who has been in a three-way goalie battle for more than a year, was placed on waivers and will likely be sent to the AHL.
General Manager Garth Snow explained why:
We want to give Thomas [Greiss] and JF [Berube] an opportunity to play, get ice time. Obviously get a chance to get some wins that we desperately need.
You’re looking for ways to help the team any way that you can, that may be to get a boost of confidence, build some momentum and ultimately win hockey games.
Halak, who is still only 31 years old, has played outstanding at times throughout his career. Getting Vezina trophy votes in two different seasons before coming to New York, the netminder set a franchise record with 38 wins in his first season with the team.
If Halak does clear and is sent to the minors, Snow expects big things:
Coming to the rink and being the hardest worker, having a great attitude, that’s something that doesn’t matter who you are and what position you play and what role you have in the organization, that’s what we expect out of everyone in this organization. We expect nothing less form Jaro in that regard.
Obviously Halak isn’t done at his relatively young age, and should make his way back to the NHL at some point – perhaps even this year. He’s also an intriguing candidate for some teams around the league who lack stability in net. Calgary, Los Angeles and Dallas among others have uncertainty in goal, and though Halak wouldn’t be a clear upgrade on paper the way he’s played this season, perhaps just a change of scenery would be enough to spark him.
The problem, is that Halak carries a $4.5MM cap hit this year and next, while being owed even more actual salary due to the back-loaded nature of his deal. Even though the Islanders are clearly willing to move on, they’d likely have to eat some of that money or kick in a prospect. Not an easy pill to swallow for a team looking to work it’s way back into playoff picture next year, if not sooner.
For Berube in particular, the move to waive Halak means more time in net. After playing just four games so far this season, Snow made it clear he’ll play more.
[After the break] it becomes a condensed schedule again and you need more than one goalie to carry the mail. It’s not the NHL of old when a goalie could play 70, 75 games, there are just too many games in a short span of time.
i think garth has a lot more explaining to do than this
the Islanders being the Islanders again. They’re the Kanye’s of the NHL
I move that needed to be made.
I know what they’re TRYING to do- get someone to pickup all or some of his salary, and try to free up money to get a deadline (or sooner) deal to get a scorer from an out of contention team, or an up against the cap team. It’s obvious. But unlikely.
No team is going to claim Halak with a $4.5 million cap hit. I don’t think the Kings would have any interest in Halak at any price. Budaj has played better than Halak this season. Why would they take on a more expensive goalie option when they have limited cap space? That would make zero sense. Dallas already has a ton of money invested in their goalie tandem. Adding another expensive option that might not be that much of an upgrade makes no sense. Calgary has had up-and-down goaltending, but I’m not sure how much of an upgrade Halak would be. Elliot has played better lately & I would think that Calgary would bet on him returning to his old form than taking a flyer on Halak. There are other teams that have some goalie question marks, but Halak’s price tag is too high. The Bruins could use a backup upgrade over Khudobin, but Halak’s cap hit would mean the Bruins would be paying $11.5 million for their goalie tandem. That’s far too much for a team who needs to add a scorer. The Flyers could have goalie issues with Mason getting injured tonight & Neuvirth still not back from injury. Again, the Flyers don’t have the cap space to add Halak. Colorado could probably use Halak, but they don’t have enough cap space either. So, I don’t see any team that can afford to take on Halak’s salary. The Islanders are going to have to send him to the AHL or pay part of the salary in order to move him.
Someone needs to explain why Garth Snow still has a job.
Would love for my Blues to try to negotiate a deal for him. Our goaltending has been garbage lately – trading Elliott was a huge mistake, like I said from the minute they announced. Allen isn’t reliable enough to be #1. Halak was awesome here before, and goaltending is where we need help ASAP.