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Jaroslav Halak

Snapshots: Dumba, Svechnikov, Halak

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It took more than a month for Matt Dumba to find a new home before inking a one-year, $3.9MM deal with Arizona.  PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan relays an interesting wrinkle in the contract – the $1.15MM signing bonus he received is actually payable on April 15th, not right away.  It has already been speculated that Dumba could be a trade candidate if the Coyotes aren’t in the playoff picture by then.  The structure of this agreement means that whoever gets him at the deadline in that scenario would actually be the one responsible for paying out the $1.15MM bonus.  There wouldn’t be any additional cap charge for the acquiring team but the cash outlay to acquire Dumba as a midseason rental will be considerably more than it might have seemed at first glance.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • In a recent appearance on the NHL Network (video link), Hurricanes GM Don Waddell indicated that winger Andrei Svechnikov is on schedule if not slightly ahead as he works his way back from ACL surgery. The 23-year-old had surgery back in mid-March, a procedure that typically carries a recovery time of six-to-seven months.  Despite the positive news, Waddell stopped short of confirming that Svechnikov will be available on opening night but if that’s not the case, he shouldn’t be out much longer which will give Carolina a big boost after missing one of their top wingers down the stretch and in the playoffs.
  • Earlier this week, Martin Jones signed with Toronto to play what’s likely to be a third-string role. Jaroslav Halak doesn’t appear to be interested in that, telling Tomas Prokop of Dennik Sport that it’s a role he isn’t looking to fill and is focused on trying to land a contract with a team that would give him the backup spot.  The 38-year-old put up a 2.72 GAA with a .903 SV% in 25 games with the Rangers last season but sits five wins shy of 300 for his career, a milestone Halak acknowledged that he’d like to reach in 2023-24.

Free Agent Profile: Jaroslav Halak

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Jaroslav Halak has been on quite the journey since he led the Montreal Canadiens to back-to-back playoff upsets of the President’s Trophy winning Washington Capitals and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2010. Halak was so effective in that run to the Conference Finals that many Canadiens fans wanted the team to keep him and trade his partner, Carey Price. Montreal opted to keep Price and shipped Halak to the St. Louis Blues for a package that included Lars Eller.

The early returns in St. Louis were good as Halak was solid in his first season with the Blues and even better in year two when he and Brian Elliott won the William M. Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals against in the league. That year Halak also garnered Vezina Trophy votes and ultimately finished sixth in voting as he sported a stellar .926 save percentage and a 1.97 goals-against average.

Eventually, the shine wore off in St. Louis and Halak lost the net to Elliot and was traded to the Washington Capitals midway through the 2013-14 campaign. He played well for the Capitals in limited action but the team ultimately missed the playoffs.

That summer, the Bratislava, Czechoslovakia native signed a four-year deal with the New York Islanders with an annual cap hit of $4.5M. The Islanders received excellent goaltending from Halak in his first season with the team as he went 38-17-4 with a .914 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average. In fact, through his first three years on Long Island Halak posted a save percentage above .910 every year, and kept his quality starts percentage over 50%, which means his save percentage was above the average more often than not.

It was in the final year of his contract with the Islanders that the cracks started to show in Halak’s game as he struggled in 2017-18 and posted the worst numbers of his career up to that point with a .908 save percentage and a 3.19 goals-against average.

Understanding that his days as a starter were likely ending, Halak signed a two-year deal with the Boston Bruins to back-up Tuukka Rask. Halak ended up playing in almost half of Boston’s games that year and outplayed Rask for large portions of the season in what was one of the best years of Halak’s career as he went 22-11-4 with a save percentage of .922 and a goals-against average of 2.34. Halak would win another Jennings Trophy the following year posting a .919 save percentage in what was another fantastic campaign for the netminder. That season in Boston, the 2019-20 campaign is the last time that Halak has posted a save percentage over .910.

Since the 2019-20 season, Halak hasn’t been able to be counted on to provide consistent play. Halak hasn’t started more than 25 games in the past three seasons, and although that isn’t entirely his fault thanks to injuries and a pandemic, he has been a tick below average when he has played.

At 38-years-old Halak and 17 seasons into his career, Halak has a lot of miles on his body, but he did indicate a month ago that he would like to continue playing. Halak reportedly talked about an extension with the New York Rangers prior to free agency, but ultimately the Rangers decided to sign Jonathan Quick to be their backup, which is a definite downgrade from Halak at this point. Halak needs just five wins to reach 300 and given his track record he should be presented soon with an opportunity to be a backup next season.

Stats

2022-23: 25 GP, 10-9-5, 2.72 GAA, .903 SV%, 1 SO
Career: 581 GP, 295-189-69, 2.50 GAA, .915 SV%, 53 SO 

Potential Suitors

At Halak’s age he probably isn’t looking to get pummeled with fifty shots every night which means we can likely filter out any rebuilding teams. At first glance, the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues are two teams who have a need for depth in net.

The Devils are a team that feels like they are on the cusp of building something great, their defense is mobile and quick, they can push the pace and defend. Their forward group is skilled, fast, and comes at you in waves. But goaltending is their Achilles heel. The Devils have reportedly shown interest in several goaltending options including Connor Hellebuyck and John Gibson, but both of those goaltenders would require large commitments that the Devils might not want to make. But the Devils do need some help in the crease as they will once again enter this season relying on the tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid. Both goaltenders are relatively inexperienced, and while they backed the Devils to the second round of the playoffs last season, they might need an extra set of hands to get the club there again. Neither Schmid, nor Vanecek have a history of playing at a high level in the NHL for an extended period, which means that even a league-average goaltender like Halak could give a big boost to the team’s depth chart and offer up a solution should either man falter.

For the St. Louis Blues, they’ve made some interesting moves over the past year but haven’t done much to address their goaltending. It’s fair to say that the Blues goaltending was porous last season. Jordan Binnington, now in the third year of a six-year $36MM contract, hasn’t been good in two seasons posting a 45-41-10 regular season record, with a 3.24 goals-against average and a .897 SV%. If you take a deep dive into his numbers the picture gets even worse, in the last two seasons Binnington has posted a minus-26.6 GSAA, meaning that he gave up almost 27 goals more than the average NHL goalie would on the same number of shots. Couple this with St. Louis deciding to run with rookie Joel Hofer as a backup and you have a potential recipe for disaster for the Blues. No disrespect to Hofer, who had a terrific year with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season in the AHL, but he is inexperienced and is no guarantee to step up should Binnington falter for a third year in a row. Adding a netminder like Halak might give the Blues a good safety net in case one of their two goaltenders were to struggle or get hurt. He wouldn’t cost anything in the way of assets and could give the Blues some peace of mind.

Projected Contract

A month ago, it seemed like a sure thing that Halak would get a one-year NHL deal for a bit over $1MM. Now a month into free agency, I’m not so sure. I think that barring an off-season training injury before training camps open, Halak will have to settle for a number three role on a team with good depth in net, or a PTO. The experienced veteran would provide a good fallback option in a pinch and can give guidance to younger goalies who might be ahead of him on the depth chart.

I’d be surprised at this point if Halak got over $1MM on his next contract, however, with that being said, injuries can create urgency quickly, especially in net. Halak could be the first netminder who gets a call from a team with thin goalie depth after they get stung by the injury bug. Even if this were to happen, Halak is like to end up with a six-figure deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Islanders Notes: Nelson, AHL Goalie Depth, Salo

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The past few seasons have been a bumpy ride for the New York Islanders, plagued by injuries and inconsistency. It’s kept them from making any deep playoff runs, something they did with relatively high frequency throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s.

One player who hasn’t let any outside noise affect him is center Brock Nelson. He’s recorded career-best offensive totals in each of the last two seasons, eclipsing the 35-goal mark for the first time in 2021-22 and the 70-point mark for the first time in 2022-23. With Nelson locked in for just two more seasons at a rather affordable $6MM cap hit, some had wondered if his name could be in trade talks with the Islanders’ roster tight to the salary cap. Today, however, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz shut down all speculation of a move in his latest mailbag, calling any trade rumors involving Nelson “utter nonsense.”

Many people didn’t have Nelson transforming into a number-one center overnight in his 30s on their bingo cards, but that’s exactly what’s happened. He’s one of the team’s most valuable forwards, often overlooked in favor of higher-profile names like Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. His role next season will be to help boost the production of the team’s better secondary scorers like Kyle Palmieri and Pierre Engvall, a line that was rather effective down the stretch of the 2022-23 regular season.

More from Kurz on some pressing Islanders topics today:

  • The Islanders’ weakest position when it comes to organizational depth is inarguably goaltending. While the team boasts one of the best NHL-level tandems in Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov, their minor-league netminding leaves much to be desired, and Kurz notes the Islanders are absolutely still in the market for a veteran third-string goaltender. Currently, the starting job in AHL Bridgeport is slated for 23-year-old Jakub Skarek, who’s yet to post above a .896 save percentage throughout four seasons in the minors. Kurz names Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott, Martin Jones, and Alex Stalock as options with notable NHL experience still looking for a home who may have to settle for a minor-league role.
  • One player who went into last season with high expectations was defenseman Robin Salo, the team’s 2017 second-round pick. He made the Islanders out of camp but didn’t stick, recording four points in 11 games throughout the first part of the season before the team assigned him to Bridgeport permanently in January. He posted just 14 assists in 38 games with Bridgeport, though, failing to score a goal throughout the entire season. After a rough year, Kurz says he’d be surprised to see Salo make the opening night roster again next season and thinks he’s slipped pretty far down the team’s depth chart of left-shot defenders. He also went so far as to call Salo a trade candidate and that if he’s not moved, the team may not issue him a qualifying offer next offseason.

Free Agent Notes: Lucic, Halak, Domi/Glendening

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Veteran grinder Milan Lucic still has some hockey left in the tank and will be looking for a new home in 2023-24. While reports had connected him to playing for his hometown Vancouver Canucks, it now appears he’ll be joining another nostalgic franchise for him, per CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal – the Boston Bruins.

Coming off a monster seven-year, $42MM deal, Lucic won’t command much on the open market and isn’t suited for anything above a fourth-line role, especially for a team with playoff aspirations. Boston is in need of cheap forward depth, but it’s fair to question the use of precious cap space on a veteran who can provide little offense, especially with hard-nosed Trent Frederic already occupying the token bottom-six grinder role. It would be a nice career bookend for Lucic, though, who won a Stanley Cup in Boston in 2011 and had 342 points in 566 games there between 2007 and 2015.

More tidbits before the free agent market opens on Saturday:

  • One of the longest-tenured netminders in the league is looking to extend his career in 2023-24, but it could be with a new team. Player agent Allan Walsh said today his client, Jaroslav Halak, will hit the unrestricted free agent market on July 1 and won’t re-sign with the New York Rangers before then. Halak, 38, is now sorely planted in “serviceable backup” territory, but there are certainly worse options for the No. 2 spot on your depth chart. The veteran of 17 NHL seasons posted a 10-9-5 record, .903 save percentage, and one shutout in 24 starts (and one relief appearance) with the Rangers this season.
  • The Dallas Stars don’t have a lot of cap flexibility this offseason, and it was expected they’d only be able to re-sign one or two depth forwards hitting the open market. That’s holding true, as after the Stars signed Evgenii Dadonov to a two-year extension yesterday, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports both Max Domi and Luke Glendening will hit the open market. The Stars have $5.1MM in projected cap space, per CapFriendly, and still need an extension for pending restricted free agent Ty Dellandrea.

Snapshots: Vladar, Rangers, Brodzinski

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Back in October, the Flames signed goaltender Daniel Vladar to a two-year contract extension, suggesting their intention for him to be part of the plans in goal for a little while longer.  However, Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson wonders if the 25-year-old might be better off being a trade option for Calgary this summer.  With AHL MVP Dustin Wolf waiting in the wings while being on a contract that’s nearly $1.4MM cheaper, it’s possible that the Flames could be better served by moving Vladar and getting some much-needed cap space; they currently are pegged to have just $1.25MM in cap room this summer, per CapFriendly, with several roster spots needing to be filled.  Vladar posted a 2.87 GAA with a .894 SV% in 27 appearances this season and if he was to be made available, Calgary could have a few teams inquiring about his services.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Mollie Walker of the New York Post examines some low-cost goaltending options for the Rangers this summer, including a possible reunion with Jaroslav Halak. The 38-year-old posted a 2.72 GAA with a .903 SV% in 25 games this season and Walker suggests that there’s mutual interest in a return.  However, with cap space being at a premium next season, Halak would almost certainly have to take a pay cut from the $1.5MM in guaranteed money he had in 2022-23.
  • Flyers prospect Bryce Brodzinski will return for his fifth and final NCAA season with Minnesota, the Golden Gophers announced. The 22-year-old forward was a seventh-round pick by Philadelphia back in 2019 (196th overall) and had 19 goals and 12 assists in 40 games this season.  Had he not opted to stay in school, the Flyers would have lost his rights if he was unsigned by August 15th.  Instead, they’ll hold his rights one season longer.

Jaroslav Halak, Louis Domingue Sign With New York Rangers

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The New York Rangers have found their backup. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple reports the team has signed veteran Jaroslav Halak to serve as the backup to Igor Shesterkin. According to CapFriendly, the deal is worth $1.55MM, which includes a $1.25MM base, a $250K signing bonus, and $50K in performance bonuses for wins and save-percentage (link). The deal also carries a full no-movement clause.

The team also announced the acquisition of Louis Domingue to be their third-string netminder on a two-year contract. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports it’s a $775,000 cap hit for Domingue, with him earning $750,000 in 2022-23 and $800,000 in 2023-24.

The two deals reinforce the importance of goaltending depth and its place in this year’s offseason market. Halak would represent one of the league’s best true backup goaltenders and Domingue one of the league’s best third-string goaltenders, which is great for the Rangers, but more interesting considering the starter is current Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. Despite having one of the best goaltenders in the world, the Rangers have committed $2.32MM to their goaltending today, while fighting the salary cap, and one might still consider these to be under-the-radar compared to other goaltender deals this offseason.

Halak will be returning to New York, where he spent four seasons as a member of the New York Islanders, this time playing for the bitter crosstown rivals. The 37-year-old spent this past season as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, suiting up for 17 games where he posted a .903 save-percentage and 2.94 goals-against average.

Domingue is an interesting addition for the Rangers, the goaltender nearly eliminating the team himself back in the first round of this year’s playoffs. Having played just two regular seasons games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Domingue suited up for six playoffs games following injuries to Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith, winning three of them, with the team ultimately losing in seven games to New York after Jarry returned for game seven. Now, the Rangers will have a chance to experience having Domingue on their side of the ice.

Pacific Notes: Kahkonen, Kolesar, Halak

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The Sharks have a couple of decisions to make with their goaltending over the offseason.  The first is deciding who of their three netminders will move and the second is how much to pay Kaapo Kahkonen (unless he’s the one they move which is an unlikely scenario).  Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now provided an overview of what Kahkonen’s market could look like this summer.  As a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility, the 25-year-old is heading for a raise but with just 60 career NHL appearances under his belt, he won’t have a lot of leverage heading into talks.  Accordingly, Kahkonen seems likely to slot in a tier or two below the top backups which would put him in the low-$2MM to $3MM range, depending on how long the deal is.  Moving one of James Reimer or Adin Hill would free up the bulk of the cap room to give Kakhonen that type of deal.

More from the Pacific:

  • Golden Knights winger Keegan Kolesar will not face any supplementary discipline from the league for his hit on Flames defenseman Christopher Tanev on Thursday, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He was initially assessed a major penalty on the play but after review, it was overturned to a two-minute minor.  The league is believed to have reviewed the incident but it was ruled that the head was not the principal point of contact so they’ve deemed that no further discipline is needed.
  • Thomas Drance of The Athletic highlights (subscription link) an interesting factor for Vancouver’s decision-making between the pipes down the stretch. The Canucks will need a lot of help to make the playoffs but they have two back-to-back sets left and Thatcher Demko struggled the last time he played in a back-to-back.  Jaroslav Halak has been better as of late but only needs to improve his save percentage by six points (from .899 to .905) to trigger a $250K performance bonus which, by virtue of Vancouver being in LTIR all season, will count against the cap in 2022-23.  Demko could use the rest but it could come at a cost for next season.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Halak, Coyotes

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The NHL has released the Three Stars for last week and unsurprisingly, Jacob Markstrom takes the top spot. The Calgary Flames goaltender earned his league-leading eighth shutout, made 46 saves against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and then backstopped the Flames to another win against the New York Islanders. With a career-best .926 save percentage on the season, Markstrom has catapulted himself directly into the Vezina Trophy conversation in recent weeks and is one of the biggest reasons that Calgary has turned into a Stanley Cup contender.

The second and third spots went to Patrik Laine and Nico Hischier respectively, both coming off six-point weeks. Laine, who is heading into the summer as a pending restricted free agent once again, now has 27 points in 27 games for the Blue Jackets this season. His game-winning goal with just a few seconds left against the Montreal Canadiens was a perfect example of the incredible power he can generate, and why he’s such a feared goal scorer when playing his best. Hischier meanwhile had five goals of his own, taking him to 13 on the season. While he doesn’t generate the same kind of press that some other first-overall picks have, Hischier has quietly been an excellent performer for the Devils since entering the league in 2017, racking up 176 points in 273 career games while providing strong defensive play down the middle.

  • Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been clear that he doesn’t want to be traded, according to Elliotte Friedman who joined Rick Dhaliwal on CHEK TV today. While Halak’s name continues to be in the rumor mill, the goaltender holds full control of his future with a no-movement clause and will not be traded without his approval. The 36-year-old has a .903 save percentage in ten appearances and will earn a substantial performance bonus for his next start.
  • If you want to get an idea of what Arizona Coyotes games will look like next season inside Arizona State University’s rather small facility, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports was tweeting out photos of the construction. The small arena is expected to have a capacity somewhere between 3,000-5,000 when it is completed and will house both the ASU Sun Devils and Coyotes for the next several seasons.

Snapshots: Trade Bait, Giordano, Halak

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The trade deadline is now just over five weeks away and the stove is heating up. TSN’s Chris Johnston has released his first Trade Bait board, with Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun firmly planted at the top of the list. An interesting mix of youth, upside, and contract status that rarely appears as an in-season trade candidate, Chychrun’s market likely encompasses most of the league.

The rest of the board includes the usual names, Ben Chiarot from Montreal, John Klingberg from Dallas, but also some that perhaps aren’t talked about as much, like Mark Pysyk of the Buffalo Sabres and Chris Tierney of the Ottawa Senators. In all, there are 24 names among the targets listed by Johnston, plus the extra cap space that the Coyotes have learned to weaponize in order to make asset additions.

  • One of the other names on the list is Mark Giordano, appearing near the top as he did on The Athletic’s version last month. Giordano spoke with Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic for a piece released today and indicated that he still hasn’t spoken to Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis about the impending deadline decision. Giordano doesn’t actually have full control of that process as his no-trade clause only lists 19 teams he can be traded to, but as a respected veteran and the first captain in team history, he’ll be consulted along the way. Giordano admits to Clark that he doesn’t exactly want to be traded, but understands that there is “a business side to this sport.”
  • There was a misunderstanding in the performance bonus clause for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jaroslav Halak, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. It was widely reported that Halak had reached the 10-game threshold to earn a $1.25MM bonus the other night but that clause is actually for 10 starts not appearances. Halak has started just nine games so far this season.

Snapshots: Halak, Almari, Crouse

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The Vancouver Canucks have confirmed that Jaroslav Halak will start this evening against the New York Islanders, meaning a $1.25MM performance bonus will be triggered for playing in his tenth game of the season. In normal circumstances that wouldn’t be much of a concern but the Canucks are one of the many teams using long-term injured reserve this season to put together their current roster. If they can’t fit that $1.25MM in by the end of the season, whatever is left would be carried over to next season.

In fact, Halak has another potential bonus of $250K should he end the year with a save percentage over .905. He’s currently at .918 through his first nine appearances, meaning he would need some tough performances over the last few months to get it down below that threshold.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have decided to loan Niclas Almari to Finland, after he failed to really catch on in the minor leagues. Almari, 23, was a fifth-round pick in 2016 that signed his entry-level contract in 2019, playing 51 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2019-20. This year though, his time has been split between WBS and the Wheeling Nailers, not seeing regular ice time at either stop. With the entry-level deal expiring at the end of the season, Almari is a prime candidate to go unqualified and become an unrestricted free agent.
  • One of the Arizona Coyotes players that was thrown around in trade rumors earlier this season was Lawson Crouse, given his strong performance on the rebuilding club. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, one of the most plugged-in Coyotes reporters around, threw some cold water on any Crouse discussion when he replied “he’s not being traded” on Twitter today. Crouse, 24, will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season and is arbitration-eligible.

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