St. Louis Blues Rumors: Is Jaroslav Halak a Trade Target?

Rumors indicate that a former Blues goalie could be on the way back to St. Louis.

The St. Louis Blues’ moves over the past week–the decision to deal Kevin Shattenkirk and the rumors that Scottie Upshall may be on the block–have largely suggested that they’re in rebuild mode and won’t be putting much effort into a long playoff run this season. Some rumors indicate, however, that the Blues might still be looking to boost their depth for the stretch run.

A flurry of rumors on Tuesday suggested that the Blues might have interest in goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who played for the team from 2010-14 and is currently in the New York Islanders’ organization. He’s been with the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, since late December after clearing waivers.

NHL.com’s Lou Korac tweeted that the Blues have indeed explored bringing Halak back into the fold:

A deal for Halak would be especially odd considering that the Blues included 25-year-old minor-league goalie Pheonix Copley–who’s been outstanding in the AHL this season, going 15-6-2 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .920 save percentage–as part of the Kevin Shattenkirk trade on Monday night. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Jeremy Rutherford, GM Doug Armstrong said he included Copley in the deal because he was an unrestricted free agent after the season and he considered 22-year-old Ville Husso to be the top goalie on the minor-league depth chart.

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If Armstrong is trying to open up playing time for Husso and fellow prospect Jordan Binnington–who were splitting the games that the starter Copley didn’t play in prior to Monday night’s trade–it really would make no sense at all to deal for Halak. Of course, it’s possible that the Blues might just want him as a third goalie for the NHL club, but with Jake Allen seemingly recovered from the slump that held him back in January, that would probably be an unnecessary measure to take.

It’s not like the Blues are seriously contending for the Stanley Cup after trading Shattenkirk, so it probably wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Binnington–who has one game of NHL experience–came up to be the backup if by some chance Allen or Carter Hutton got hurt down the stretch. Halak would also strain the salary cap, so his presence on the roster–even as a third goalie–could be a negative.

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He’s also set to make $5 million next season and has a cap hit of $4.5 million. While the Blues could theoretically buy him out at a reduced rate after this season, it wouldn’t make much sense for them to spend any money that they don’t have to on him, especially when they already have two established NHL goalies and two more intriguing young prospects.

Next: Most Outstanding Players in Blues History: 20-11

Earlier this season, we listed Halak at No. 49 on our list of the 50 most outstanding players in Blues history. He is second in club history in shutouts (20), fourth in goals-against average (2.23), second in save percentage (.916), and sixth in wins (83), but considering that the Blues already have two goalies with multi-year deals, it’s probably not likely that he’ll do too much more to move further up the list, even if he ultimately comes back to St. Louis.