This morning, we learned that Jaroslav Halak has announced his professional retirement. The goalie, who broke all records in the playoffs with the Habs 15 years ago, has hung up his pads.
That said, 15 years ago, Halak didn’t just dominate the playoffs: he was also traded to the Blues. And with the goaltender now retired, it’s interesting to see how that deal turned out in the end. And frankly, it’s surprising.
In return for the Slovakian goaltender, the Habs got Ian Schultz, but more importantly, they got Lars Eller, who had some great years in town. The Dane was then traded for two second-round picks, one of which became Joni Ikonen and the other was later traded again.
This traded pick became a fifth-round pick (which was used to select Samuel Houde), but also a third-round pick, with which the Habs selected Jordan Harris.
So, when you look at all this, it’s partly thanks to Jaroslav Halak that the Habs are now betting on Patrik Laine… but also on a second-round pick in the next draft.
We know that Laine, despite the fact that he’s not a perfect player, was a big acquisition in Montreal. The Finn added a pure scorer to Montreal’s forward group, and did so in an injury-shortened year.
There’s a real possibility that Laine will be better this year than last (if he avoids injury, of course). So the Halak deal is still helping the Habs right now.
But the second-round pick acquired in that same deal means that there’s a real possibility that it will continue to help the Habs in the long term. Perhaps this pick will be used to select an interesting young player, but it could also be used in a transaction to bring an established player to town.
The funniest scenario, though, would be for him to be traded to a team willing to take on Carey Price’s contract, hehe.
So, even if Halak has retired, the deal made 15 years ago still pays off for the Canadiens today every time Patrik Laine scores a goal. And who knows: maybe it will continue to pay off for many years to come, if the second-round pick becomes a valuable asset.
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