Hockey: There is a vast amount of coverage out of Montreal about the Halak trade. Many fans were enthralled with Halak during the Montreal Canadiens' late season push and remarkable playoff run. I share the same view as they do: trading Halak was bad for Montreal, both in the short and long term. Gauthier made his case that teams must be build around sturdy veterans and break-out seasons by younger players. What I gathered from his phone conference following the Halak trade was that his future plan for the Canadiens was to keep high-priced players as a major component of his organization and to pray for unbelievable seasons by entry-level players. That is a pipe dream and a system meant to attract fans and not hardware. Chicago had a rare combination that allowed a young team to make its way from the basement of the league to Cup champions. One piece of that was a brilliant effort by goaltender Anti Niemi. What did Montreal do with their goaltender that could do that? Traded him.
I've been told that it was the right thing for Montreal to do. Halak had arbitration rights. This would bump is salary from $800,000 to the $3-4m range likely. Montreal could have lost Halak for nothing. While all this is true, good management ought to have recognized at some point that Carey Price needs more work and Halak is ready, making Halak the optimal choice for the future and be willing to pay him his dues. St. Louis is now in the position of having to sign Halak. It could cost the team a significant amount if another team makes an aggressive offer sheet, but in all likelihood, St. Louis will do what Montreal wasn't willing to: sign Halak to a contract and keep him there for several years.
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