Jaroslav Halak spent the past season getting pelted with pucks and getting burned by the red light as a member of the New York Islanders, but the Boston Bruins are hoping a better defense in front of the netminder and a lighter workload will mean the veteran keeper gets back to his old ways.
Following news that Anton Khudobin, the Bruins’ former backup, would be heading for Victory Green pastures on a new deal with the Dallas Stars, Boston went out and found a new No. 2 for longtime starter Tuukka Rask in Halak. Getting a deal done with Halak, who is coming off of one of his worst seasons, didn’t come all that cheap, however. It took a two-year agreement and a $2.75 million commitment — annually, that is — to bring the 33-year-old to the Bruins.
As far as backup options go, Boston most certainly got one of the most experienced on the market. Halak is a veteran of nearly 450 games and has 30 playoff games under his belt. He’s been quite the steady hand over the course of his career, too, with a .916 save percentage in the regular season and stellar .924 SP in the post-season. And that’s exactly the kind of netminder the Bruins want to be pushing Rask, who is cemented into the top job, because the incumbent netminder has to know now that if he stumbles, Halak is right there to challenge for the starting gig.
Challenge Halak might, too, given that Rask hasn’t exactly been Vezina Trophy calibre over the past few seasons. In fact, despite finishing seventh in Vezina voting this past season, he hasn’t really been a top contender for the award since he won the thing back in 2013-14, and that’s why getting an experienced backup was so important for Boston. And yes, while Halak’s ugly .908 SP and 3.19 goals-against average last season would indicate he can’t really offer top-tier support to Rask, he posted a combined .917 SP the two seasons prior playing on mediocre New York Islanders teams. Rask, meanwhile, had a .915 SP over that same stretch on a far superior Bruins squad.
The starting job is and, until the time he no longer wears the ‘Spoked B,’ will forever be Rask’s to lose. But if he loses it, Halak won’t be far behind with an eye on taking the reins.
