In 2010, after making a miracle run to the Eastern Conference Final, the Montreal Canadiens faced the biggest decision they had to make, perhaps since the days of Patrick Roy. Do they keep Carey Price, or do they keep Jaroslav Halak?
Halak just had an incredible run in the playoffs. Against the President's Trophy winning Washington Capitals, the Canadiens were outplayed the first four games of the series, and it all looked lost. But Halak was chosen to start in Game 5, and he would completely shut down the Capitals for the rest of the series.
This includes an all-time performance in Game 6, where Halak allowed one goal on 54 shots. In fact, the Capitals scored only one goal in each of the last three games, and it is a great shame that Halak never recorded a shutout as he totally deserved it, and played at an all-world level.
And the Canadiens never looked back at Price during that run, as they moved on to face reigning Stanley Cup Champions and peak Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. And, outside of the first game (a 6-3 loss), Halak handled the Penguins and the Canadiens moved on in seven games again.
Unfortunately, the team was totally outplayed physically and skill-wise against the Philadelpia Flyers, and they lost in five games. This was the time before goalie tandems were all the rage, and the Canadiens had to decide: Ride the hot hand in Halak, or stay with the young, high draft pedigree Price?
The two goalies played in almost the same amount of games in the regular season, and put up almost identical numbers. Price had 2.35 GAA and 0.923 save percentage in 41 games, while Halak had 2.40 GAA and 0.924 save percentage in 45 games.
But Price was a top-five pick, while Halak was selected 271st overall, in the ninth round in 2003. The Canadiens had made their choice, and made their move early in the off-season.
Trade #1: Halak For Prospects
Montreal Canadiens Receive: | St. Louis Blues Receive: |
|---|---|
Ian Schultz | Jaroslav Halak |
Lars Eller |
It's a rather innocuous, simple start. Just three pieces involved and no draft picks. The Canadiens flipped their goalie for two young forwards, Ian Schultz and Lars Eller, both of which had hardly, if any, NHL experience.
Before we leave Halak behind, we can look at what the St. Louis Blues got, and how Halak fared in the rest of his career.
The Blues got four very good years out of Halak, including a fantastic 2011-12 season. After the Blues, Halak had memorable runs with the Islanders and Bruins, before retiring in 2023. Now, back to the trade tree.
Ian Schultz is a dead end. The former third round pick never made the NHL, and even struggled to stay in the AHL, bouncing between the AHL and ECHL, and was never traded again with the Canadiens.
Lars Eller, had an interesting time as a middle six forward with the Canadiens, capable of great bursts of offense, but also great periods of droughts, he played six seasons in Montreal, and never scored more than 16 goals or 30 points.
Eller's highlight with the Canadiens was a game against the Winnipeg Jets in January in 2012. The Canadiens routed the Jets 7-3, on the strength of four goals by Eller on the night, including a highlight spinorama shootout goal for his fourth.
But the 2015-16 season was a nightmare for the Habs, mostly due to Price missing most of the season due to injury, and the Canadiens looked to move off rentals to stock up draft picks for the future. And Lars Eller was an attractive trade chip.