The New York Islanders have signed Slovakian goaltender Jaroslav Halak to a four-year, $18 million contract with an AAV of $4.5 million.
The 29-year-old net minder was moved around quite frequently over the last year. He began the 2013-14 season as the St. Louis Blues’ starter before being dealt at the trade deadline to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for elite commodity Ryan Miller and grinder Steve Ott.
A mere four days later, Halak was traded yet again to the Washington Capitals in a deal that sent Michal Neuvirth and Rostislav Klesla back to the Sabres.
After convincingly taking over the No. 1 spot in Washington, Halak played 12 games for the Capitals before they spun the roulette wheel once more by sending him to the Islanders at the conclusion of the season for a fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft.
Instead of choosing to take his chances on the free agent market this summer, Halak’s decision to re-sign in New York has undoubtedly secured himself a starting position come October seeing as neither veteran Evgeni Nabokov nor rookies Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson have confidently shown that they have the abilities to take their games to another level.
New York has also announced that they will retain their 2014 first-round pick [No. 5 overall] and send their 2015 first-round pick to Buffalo in order to complete their previous trade involving Thomas Vanek.
Halak recorded a combined record of 29-13-7 over the course of his 52 appearances this season while sporting a .921 save percentage paired with a 2.25 goals against average.
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