[Signing] Isles sign Halak (4yrs, $18 million)

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Arthur Staple ‏@StapeNewsday
Garth Snow told me earlier that he has had "good conversations" with Evgeni Nabokov's agent about a return as backup to Halak. #Isles

Halak gets injured so much, he might well be the starter next season.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by blankall

Halak is dreadfully underrated. This gives the Isles average, at least, goaltending. Considering every other year they've been almost dead last in that category, this is a huge boost for their team. Plus Tavares et al are a year ahead in their development. A new owner and a ton of cash to spend. Hopefully, these guys pull something off.

Yup. Was criticized a bit in St.Louis but in the end probably outperformed what Miller was able to do there.

From twitter but it is interesting: Halak is one of only 4 goalies that has at least a .920 save percentage, and a 2.15 GAA (or better) over the last 3 seasons. The other 3 goalies are Schneider, Rask, and Lundqvist. Pretty good company for Halak.

Considering what each of those three would fetch in a trade that is pretty good for a 4th round pick.

[BigTuna]

Be cautious about save % with Hitchcock coached teams. Halak will have a tougher job outside that system.

Hitchcock made Steve Mason look like a future superstar.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

Be cautious about save % with Hitchcock coached teams. Halak will have a tougher job outside that system.

Hitchcock made Steve Mason look like a future superstar.

Had seasons of .924 (45 games) and .915 (34 games) with Montreal as well.

Maybe he is just a pretty good goalie.

[Enoch Root]

This was a good move by the Isles.

So was keeping their pick this year.

That's two solid decisions within 24 hours from the NY Islanders... is it the apocalypse?

But I think that they can - and will - make the playoffs next year (it's the east, afterall)

[Sylvanfan]

Halak did not play well in Washington, and his team mates in St.Louis were not too keen on him. In 2010 he had a big year stopping Slovakia to the semi finals in the Olympics and helping Montreal take out Washington and Pittsburgh. But Montreal made the right call dealing him and keeping Price, and Halak has yet to achieve the same things he did since 2010. He had good numbers in St.Louis, but Brian Elliot's were better.

[19Yzerman19]

The thing about Halak is that he can give you league average goaltending, but cannot carry a full time starter's load. At 45-50 games, he's solid. But you need a strong backup to handle at least 30 games. $4.5M is a lot to pay for 2/3 of a starting goalie.

A team like the Blues is going to put up W's even when playing their backup tendy, but for a team like the Isles, it's a bit tougher to post a winning record in those ~30 games, and you'd need that to make the playoffs.

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Had seasons of .924 (45 games) and .915 (34 games) with Montreal as well.

Maybe he is just a pretty good goalie.

That's Reimer like numbers really. ( a little worse)

[Roof-Daddy]

Good move for the Isles to lock up a decent #1 goalie....at least hopefully he is capable of that playing for the Islanders.

Now they need to trade for an offensive, big minute veteran Dman seeing as they have lost Streit and MacDonald the last two seasons. Hrmmm, Dennis Wideman maybe?

[Poe969]

Anything that makes the isles a better team is fine by me! I would love to send them wideman somehow…

[nik-]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

Be cautious about save % with Hitchcock coached teams. Halak will have a tougher job outside that system.

Hitchcock made Steve Mason look like a future superstar.

He was also better than Miller in front of that same team