Montreal Sends Playoff Hero To Blues

 

There was going to come a time during this offseason where the Montreal Canadiens needed to establish who their No. 1 goaltender was, and then get rid of the other guy. That decision came on Thursday, when the first blockbuster deal of the summer was announced. Montreal decided to stick with Carey Price, and in doing so pulled the trigger on a trade that sent the rights to Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues for forwards Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.

Halak, who will be a restricted free agent on July 1, was most recently a playoff hero for the Canadiens. As the eighth seed, Montreal was expected to be bounced by the Washington Capitals in the first round. But the Habs shocked the world by sending Alexander Ovechkin and Co. home early after a seven-game series. Then they moved on to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games, as well. Montreal was hardly a match for the Philadelphia Flyers in the Conference Finals. But the fact that the team even got there after having to play two Eastern Conference favorites was an accomplishment in itself.

And the very reason for Montreal bunking the odds and getting as deep as it did in the playoffs was the quality goaltending received from Halak. He literally stole the show on several occasions as he was leading the Canadiens to victory.

Even during the regular season, Halak proved to be the more stable force in between the pipes for Montreal. He went 26-13-5 in 45 games played, sporting a 2.40 goals against average, a fourth-ranked save percentage at .924 and five shutouts.

None of that matters in the business world of hockey, though. In that world, great play equates to great trade value, and that’s all Montreal saw in him when it came time to pick their starter. It was a move that shocked the Montreal fans. It shocked Halak. And it even shocked now former-Blues goaltender Chris Mason.

So what does this really boil down to? Why keep Price over Halak? Well, according to Greg Wyshynski’s transcription of a conference call with Habs general manager Pierre Gauthier over at Puck Daddy, it’s about two things; 1) being comfortable with Price and 2) the future:

1) “When we discuss players, we discuss what we think they’re going to do in the future. Every decision, especially in the offseason like this, is a big-picture decision. The decision is based on our projections. We are very comfortable with Carey Price. He’s a young man that has almost 150 games in the league even though he’s only 22 years old. He’s got a few rounds of playoffs, he’s won a Calder Cup at a very young age. He brings a lot to the table and is a young man who we think will be a good goalie in the league.”

2) “The interesting thing about that is that we’re looking into the future. And we thought that, at the time of the trade deadline and we still think, that we had two good young goaltenders and now we have one good young goaltender. We feel we’ve obtained some players that can help us. One of them is closer in Lars Eller. In the big picture of things, going forward, we feel very comfortable doing this today.”

Even with their “comfort” in Price, Wyshynski points out that Gauthier is still reluctant to name him the team’s No. 1 goalie:

"In our discussions, with the coaches and the people who are in the decision-making process, Carey Price is a guy who can carry a loadm" Gauthier said on the call. "He can play a lot of games. He's a strong man. He's a good goalie. I think we'll want to compliment him with a good goaltender," he said. "You need two good goaltenders on the team, and we'll address that."

So you trade your hotter performer last year in an effort to clear the logjam of starting goaltenders. And then you don’t even instill enough confidence into the guy you kept by naming him the bonafide, without a shadow of no doubt, no chance in hell he won’t be No. 1 option? Instead, you say he’s good and will continue to be good with another good goalie you grab off the free agent market breathing down his neck … or more likely sharing his playing time. Sounds very “comfortable” indeed.

The reality of the situation is that Montreal looked at the future ... of the numbers – the financial numbers. Last year, Price made $500,000 more than Halak. But that was based off his $850,000 salary. And they are both entering restricted free agency. Considering the play of the two goalies last year, in which Price basically started to garner that “bust” label while Halak was anointed the next Patrick Roy, there’s little doubt that the Slovakian native was in store for the heftier pay raise. He was in a position to command a lot more than Price, and probably could have demanded at least in the $4 million range Chicago Blackhawks starter Antti Niemi is expected to go after. It will cost less for Montreal to re-sign Price than it would have to keep Halak. And that is what Gauthier is really comfortable with.

As for the Blues’ end of this, the move was basically a no-brainer. Mason wasn’t a bad goalie and they probably could have inked him for less than it will cost to sign Halak. But Halak is nine years younger and already has a hotter resume than Mason. At 25 years old, he started in the hockey hotbed that is Montreal and backstopped that team to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1993. That’s experience Mason doesn’t have.

Obviously, the Blues weren’t huge fans of giving up the 21-year old Eller, who they drafted in the first round (13th overall) back in 2007. But “you’ve got to give to get,” according to team president John Davidson. And it’s worth it to give up somebody who is still a prospect for a goalie who has thus far proven himself.

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This wasn’t St. Louis’ lone move of the day. In addition to acquiring Halak, the Blues made a much more minor deal by getting T.J. Hensick from the Colorado in exchange for Julian Talbot. Both are 25-year old centers that are minor leaguers to this point, though Hensick has played in 99 games for the Avalanche over three seasons – notching 11 goals and 24 assists.