New York Islanders Roundtable: Should Halak be Traded

Michel Anderson

As it comes with any trade it takes two to tango. The overall theme from the Eyes on Isles staff is: “If the price is right”. Which is absolutely fair. If the price is right any player is…in play.

So what is the right price? Losing a starting goalie generally means that a hole immediately opens up on the team’s roster. And generally, means a goaltender is either coming back in the same trade or is on the way in a soon to come transaction.

But for the New York Islanders they already have a number of goalies in the system. All Islanders fans saw how Thomas Greiss was able to take the starter responsibility valiantly when Halak went down with injury last season.

And as some of the staffers suggested, it might be too early to throw all of our eggs in the Thomas Greiss basket just yet. His unfortunate outing at the World Cup of Hockey didn’t do much to quell any feelings of uneasiness. Four goals, eight shots, in ten minutes? Although it would be fair to ask how in the world a team got eight shots against in ten minutes in the first place.

Who Needs a Goalie?

Just looking at basic goaltending number would suggest the Calgary Flames need goaltending. The Flames had the worst goaltending record in the league based on save percentage. But this offseason the Flames acquired Brian Elliot from the St Louis Blues and Chad Johnson from the Buffalo Sabres

So the Flames are set in the goaltending department. At least for the time being. What about Dallas?

The Dallas Stars didn’t have the worst goaltending output in the league. But it wasn’t good enough to get them past that second round in the playoffs.The Finnish duo posted a combined .882 SV% and 3.05 GAA during the 2015-16 playoffs. That’s just not good enough

Toss Halak into that situation, based on his current performances and the Stars suddenly look like world beaters. So, what’s the price? What does Jim Neal give up? More importantly, what do the Islanders need?

For this trade to take place two assumptions need to occur, one for each respective side. For the Stars, it’s the assumption that one of either Lehtonen or Niemi is traded away. The Stars already carry the heaviest goaltender cap allocation in the league. Adding Halak’s $4.5 million to the books wouldn’t make much sense.

From the Isles perspective, the assumption has to be that they fully trust in a Greiss-Berube tandem. It’s a risky proposition from the Isles perspective simply because they don’t know if Greiss’ performance last season was a flash in the pan or not.

Hemsky is a guarantee for a minimum of 30 points no matter where he is. Putting up 30 points here seems like an easy guarantee. With him, the Isles have the ability to roll three scoring lines.

With Halak going the other way the Isles save a $500,000 on the cap. The pick is a reflection of the risk the Islanders are absorbing by sending their starter to Dallas. And the option, well that’s just good business.

If Dallas really believes they have a shot at the cup (who doesn’t think they do?). Then there’s a cost associated with facilitating that goal by sending over the piece they are desperately missing.

Next: How Amazing is Ryan Strome's New Deal?

With his outstanding performances at the World Cup of Hockey Halak is turning heads and likely drawing interest. The Islanders and Garth Snow need to think long and hard about the present and future of their crease. Sorokin was drafted by the Isles, but who knows if he’ll actually play here, or just stay in Russia. If the Isles can get a top six forward and some draft leverage with at least a second round pick, then maybe the deal can be done.