Confirmed with Link: Halak re-signs 1yr/3.5M (Inc 1.25M GP Bonus)

[Aussie Bruin]

Fantastic! Best hockey-related news I've heard for weeks. Such a solid player, compliments Rask perfectly, and a known quantity. As a couple of others have said, the young goalies still seem to be a year away so this leaves us well covered until then.

If this season does turn out to be a write-off, then the Bruins are going to have to do it all again next year while that window is still just sitting a smidgen open. And having the best goaltending tandem in the league is going to be critical to that. So while maybe Jaro's new contract is just a touch more expensive that would be ideal, it's fair value and he's completely worth it.

 

[JOKER 192]

Im shocked.
Not because of him but because of the money. Thought for sure theyd roll the dice with one of the kids.

Goes to show what I know.

I thought that same.

Habs fans have been clamoring for the Habs to sign him so in that regard

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

I thought for certain he would get a final large contract and chase being a starting goalie one last time.

This is great news.

 

[BruinsBtn]

I love knowing that even if Rask goes down, the Bruins Cup hopes barely take a hit. If almost any other team loses their #1, they're cooked.

 

[UncleRico]

So bruins need at least 7 players to sign more than likely 8 with $18m to spend. Krug will have to take well below market value barring a trade.

 

[Baddkarma]

Great deal. Good for Halak and the Bruins.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

good price... good goalie.... I guess at his age he enjoys being settled with a chance to win and thus takes the slightest home town discount. timing works nice with vladar getting a chance to firmly prove himself number 1 at ahl and maybe get a taste of nhl action if injuries hit.

ive been projecting we bring everyone back in most my cap projections... but this shutdown has made me start to rethink if we can afford it. im happy to see this might be evidence that things will work out

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

So bruins need at least 7 players to sign more than likely 8 with $18m to spend. Krug will have to take well below market value barring a trade.

your math might be off
we have 18 players signed for 63.5 mill now which includes the backes retention
3 forwards and 2 dmen will take us to a full 23 man roster

debrusk/Bjork/and a kid like kuhlman likely make up the missing forwards
chara/grzelyck likely are the 2 dmen {krug probably too expensive to retain}

18 million will cover these 5 with room to spare.

senshyn/zboril run out of waiver options to return to ahl... so I foresee senshyn making the team likely in place of blidh who currently holds a spot on the cap friendly roster sheet. zboril will be trying to convince us that we should move moore and give that spot to the kid.

lineup now is looking good I think

marchand/Bergeron/{pastrnak remain a deadly first line second to none}
debrusk/krejci/kase {could be improved with a full season from kase}
Ritchie/coyle/senshyn {im ambitious putting senshyn in the starting lineup}
kuraly/Lindholm/wagner {federic will be pushing Lindholm for a spot I think}
Bjork/kuhlman {both could become starters just as easily as extra forwards}

Chara/McAvoy {I think grzelyck will take more and more of chara's mins as time passes}
Lauzon/Carlo {will they use lauzon as the 3rd pair rightie?}
grzelyck/Clifton {little small for my tastes but Chara will prob play back some}
Zboril {I am going to project that we move Moore and open room for Zboril}

Rask/Halak {goaltending is top notch}

its almost the same lineup that ran away with the president trophy this year. the one downgrade is krug. I wonder if we should be trying to sign that finn out of the KHL that has the reputation for being a PP QB? Give him Clifton's spot... move Lauzon to the right and plug the finn into the second pair?

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

so it's basically $3.5M, but $1.25M can slide to the following year? seems ok with me.
krejci either gone by then or back for a lot less $ and backes retention also gone.

Good call. Thread title edited.

I'm not totally jazzed about the deal, to be honest. Like the player, but I'm concerned about the cap next year and saw this as an area we could have saved a little coin on without a big drop in competency.

 

[Wiggleboom]

High-level cap planning by Sweeney.

Pay Halak $2.25 as backup goalie in 20-21, then punt his $1.25 bonus into 21-22 and add it to the ELC salary the rookie backup is on for a total of $2.1 or so. Nice way to spread the cost over the two years.

 

[talkinaway]

This is the best news I've heard since March 10. Halak was a key and underrated component to 2018-19, and while it didn't end how we wanted, it still was an amazing season.

He simply makes Rask better. Rask can easily play 70 or 80 games a year at an elite level, and with Halak gobbling up some extra games that you wouldn't want other backups to touch (Svedberg or Gustavson, anyone?), some of those games Rask can play will now be pushed deeper and deeper into the playoffs.

The price is right, too. There must be something about the Bruins that has players take the hometown discount. I like it.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Don’t love the higher cap hit but I guess an already important position will be moreso assuming the schedule isn’t business as usual. We know that asking Rask to carry a bigger load never goes well.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Good call. Thread title edited.

I'm not totally jazzed about the deal, to be honest. Like the player, but I'm concerned about the cap next year and saw this as an area we could have saved a little coin on without a big drop in competency.

I wouldn't count on there not being a significant drop in competency without Halak. I don't consider him quite starter quality but I'd call him a proven, consistent '1.5' who is content to play the backup role. That's invaluable and gives the Bruins one of the best second goalies in the league. It also suits Rask who as we know prefers and is better playing a 45-55 game season than a 60+ one, keeping him fresher for the playoffs. The two also clearly get on well and each know and accept their role, which shouldn't be underestimated.

Now maybe Vladar or someone else could step up and do a great job, or maybe they could have poached either a youngster on the rise and some other proven veteran and landed a good deal who delivers. But there would be risk attached to whichever way they went. By contrast Rask/Halak works and it keeps a major component of what makes Boston successful intact for another year while the chance for another Cup with Bergy etc. hopefully remains open. Now's not the time to mess with it.

I agree there are cap concerns, but Sweeney's already scored a couple of important wins in that regard and put us in a better place than we were a few months ago. No-one's sitting completely comfortably and every top team will be sweating on how things look financially post the pandemic, but I think the Bruins are in a better position to deal with whatever's determined than most.

 

[UncleRico]

your math might be off
we have 18 players signed for 63.5 mill now which includes the backes retention
3 forwards and 2 dmen will take us to a full 23 man roster

debrusk/Bjork/and a kid like kuhlman likely make up the missing forwards
chara/grzelyck likely are the 2 dmen {krug probably too expensive to retain}

18 million will cover these 5 with room to spare.

senshyn/zboril run out of waiver options to return to ahl... so I foresee senshyn making the team likely in place of blidh who currently holds a spot on the cap friendly roster sheet. zboril will be trying to convince us that we should move moore and give that spot to the kid.

lineup now is looking good I think

marchand/Bergeron/{pastrnak remain a deadly first line second to none}
debrusk/krejci/kase {could be improved with a full season from kase}
Ritchie/coyle/senshyn {im ambitious putting senshyn in the starting lineup}
kuraly/Lindholm/wagner {federic will be pushing Lindholm for a spot I think}
Bjork/kuhlman {both could become starters just as easily as extra forwards}

Chara/McAvoy {I think grzelyck will take more and more of chara's mins as time passes}
Lauzon/Carlo {will they use lauzon as the 3rd pair rightie?}
grzelyck/Clifton {little small for my tastes but Chara will prob play back some}
Zboril {I am going to project that we move Moore and open room for Zboril}

Rask/Halak {goaltending is top notch}

its almost the same lineup that ran away with the president trophy this year. the one downgrade is krug. I wonder if we should be trying to sign that finn out of the KHL that has the reputation for being a PP QB? Give him Clifton's spot... move Lauzon to the right and plug the finn into the second pair?

Unless I’m missing something I count 4 forwards in debrusk, bjork, kuhlman and nordstrom(or a Nordstrom replacement)


Then 3 defenders in chara, krug and gryz. Switch out Clifton for lauzon and save 150k. Let miller walk and that’s 14 forwards, 7 defenders and two goalies, which equals 23 roster spots. So there’s 7 roster spots left.

so the bruins currently need to re-sign or replacement 7 guys. Until Moore gets moved he is a Bruin and counts against the cap so I’m not making any assumptions that a team will take his contract off our books.

 

[Fenway]

Tuukka has been sending hints that 2020-21 could be it for him.

No downside over this move.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Unless I’m missing something I count 4 forwards in debrusk, bjork, kuhlman and nordstrom(or a Nordstrom replacement)


Then 3 defenders in chara, krug and gryz. Switch out Clifton for lauzon and save 150k. Let miller walk and that’s 14 forwards, 7 defenders and two goalies, which equals 23 roster spots. So there’s 7 roster spots left.

so the bruins currently need to re-sign or replacement 7 guys. Until Moore gets moved he is a Bruin and counts against the cap so I’m not making any assumptions that a team will take his contract off our books.

Well you wouldnt be able to have a 25 man roster... theres 18 guys now. So, if you want all 7 of these guys then pick 2 signed guys, and fire them, and reclaim their money

Either way theres a problem with your math but the most likely solution is they arent planning to bring back nordstrom. Like schaller and accarri, some other team will overpay and bruins have cheaper, younger guys ready to fill the spot.

And... im afraid the math doesnt work for krug. Unless the bruins are planning something like trading krejci or debrusk... there wont be room in the new budget for a 5 mill pp specalist (and krug is rumored to be looking at 7 so thats a killer)

I guess it is possible we go with studnicka/coyle behind bergeron and move krejci... we would then have room for krug and we would get a return for krejci

Imo its a bigger gamble then letting krug walk and going with chara/grzelyck/lauzon at left d with zboril/vaakainen lined up to inherit chara's spot and now wolfe and zech also good enough to be in the plans as well

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Unless I’m missing something I count 4 forwards in debrusk, bjork, kuhlman and nordstrom(or a Nordstrom replacement)


Then 3 defenders in chara, krug and gryz. Switch out Clifton for lauzon and save 150k. Let miller walk and that’s 14 forwards, 7 defenders and two goalies, which equals 23 roster spots. So there’s 7 roster spots left.

so the bruins currently need to re-sign or replacement 7 guys. Until Moore gets moved he is a Bruin and counts against the cap so I’m not making any assumptions that a team will take his contract off our books.

I see you are using some strange twitter thing as your source. I suggest go to capfriendly

They total up all contracts

Your source seems to suggest lauzon is in ahl... in reality he is on a 1-way contract and not eligible for waivers.

Your source is also absent anton blidh. Now, you and i might think blidh will not make team, but he is signed and until we demote him he is currently on the team.

Ive heard from dom, that charas agent indicated chara will be back

Mcavoy/carlo are self explained

Clifton got a huge multiyear deal... that is strong indication the team likes him

And lauzon got 2 years... pretty much tells us he is in the plans

Gives us 5 dmen locked in

Moore is signed but clearly not in favor... if he stays he is the 7th dman. Im suggesting zboril will get a shot as the 7th dman because otherwise he goes on waivers

If chara and lauzon both play theres only 1 spot left

Krug has had no talks with the team. We cant afford him. Grzelyck is a quality nhl dmen we can afford.

Smart money says odds are krug is odd man out

 

[bolt thrower]

That's fantastic news during these dark times. Halak is the perfect backup, maybe the best in the game. He also seems to really like it in Boston and to be part of the team.

 

[DaStinger]

I truly believe this goaltending tandem is the reason we had such a great season. So glad to have Halak back for another!

 

[kthx]

This makes me happy.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

$2.25 was much better than $3.5 but it is what it is. Still a good signing.

 

[BruinDust]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Rask/Halak tandem works. You need two quality goaltenders in today's NHL. There are no more throw-away games, every game is competitive and the margins between making or not making the playoffs can be very slim. Solid move by the Bruins.

 

[Kalus]

This gives us at least one more year of likely great goaltending if Rask is healthy and a legitimate contingency plan if he gets hurt. It's a lot of cap into the position, but well worth it.

They will have the luxury of keeping a close eye on the three prospects in low risk situations to identify which one is most ready for promotion the next year. They can also battle test the leading one or two in a few NHL games later in the season.

 

[rfournier103]

Good enough to start for most teams, and good enough to beat anyone in the league. Great move by the Bruins.

 

[Ratty]

So, which goaltender do the Bs protect in the Expansion draft? Both Rask and Halak will be UFAs. Vladar, I guess unless Tuukka signs an extension. He's not sending out any re up vibes.

Like Jaro, but it looks like the death knell for Krug. Disappointed overall.