National Hockey League: St. Louis Blues sign goaltender Jaroslav Halak to a four-year contract
The St. Louis Blues acquired Halak in June in an unexpected trade with the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz, and now have signed a four year contract with the young goaltender reported to be worth 15 million dollars. The peculiar contract pays Halak 2.75 million the first season, 3.5 million in the second, 4.24 in the third and 4.5 million in the fourth season of his contract. In terms of Pay, the contract ranks Halak 17th among NHL goaltenders.
Let his salary last year be no reflection on his new contract. The Blues President, John Davidson, was deeply impressed by Halak’s performance. “Jaroslav's play in this year's regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs was remarkable,” he said. Speaking of his statistics with the Canadiens he said: “He had very impressive numbers,” adding that he was thrilled that Halak wll be wearing the Blues uniform. No surprise then that the former Canadien gets a significant pay raise.
"Jaroslav will be a big help for our organization," Blues General Manager, Doug Armstrong said. Doug admired Halak’s commitment to the team as he signed the contract in the prime of his career. Doug got a good deal for the star goaltender. He managed to avoid a severe salary cap hit with Halak’s yearly coming out to 3.75, and avoided risks involved with long term contracts with the four year contract he offered Halak.
Halak is not disappointed. He said that he had been looking forward to playing with the blues since the announcement of the trade. He said that he believed in his abilities and wanted to put them to good use for the blues. With the Canadiens, Halak posted a 26-13-5 in 2009-2010 season. He had a save percentage of 0.940 which ranks fourth best in the NHL. Halak was instrumental in the Playoff upsets for Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens.
One of the unexpected winners out of the Halak contract could be Antti Niemi. Antti filed for salary arbitration before the July 5th deadline. When Antti’s case is heard by an arbitrator, Halak’s 3.75 million dollar contract will be the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender’s first argument for a salary increase. The Blackhawks have their own serious cap issues and probably are not happy with Halak setting a goaltender precedent comparable to Antti because now, in all likelihood, they will have to dole out a similar, if shorter, contract.
The Canadiens too could not be very pleased with losing Halak but between Halak and Carey Price, the Canadiens had one star goaltender too many. Carey Price, as of yet unsigned, is expected to put a hole in the Candiens’ pockets as deep as Halak has in the Blues. With Halak’s departure to the Blues, Price is now the number 1 goaltender for Montreal. There was surprise all around when the Canadiens initially announced that it would be Halak not Price who would be traded, Halak himself did not see it coming. All this puts an enormous amount of weight of expectations on Price, and the pay raise that comes with it. Maybe that is why no word on the Canadiens-Price deal has come as of yet.
Same day as the contract for Halak was announced; the Blues signed forward Cam Janssen for another one year offering him 600,000 dollars. Janssen appeared excited about starting the next season. “We have a great group of guys,” he said speaking fondly of his Blues teammates. A two year extension for Carlo Colaiacovo, who finished his last year with the blues at a career high with 7 goals and 25 assists, was also on hand. Blues GM Doug said that defensemen of Carlo’s skill are not easy to come by and the blues will rely heavily on his offensive prowess as well as his defence. Tuesday was indeed a busy day for Doug Armstrong.
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