Friday, word broke that Jaroslav Halak signed a one-year, $2.25 million contract extension to remain the Bruins backup goaltender through the 2020-2021 season.
#NHLBruins sign Jaroslav Halak to a one-year contract extension with a cap hit of $2.25 million: https://t.co/jiPzGA0HQ9 pic.twitter.com/3wixaUqowO
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 1, 2020
This is a great move for Don Sweeney to have pulled off given that the salary cap will be static next year (around $81.5 million) and that leaves the Bruins GM about $20 million to signed several UFAs like Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara and RFAs including Jake DeBrusk and Anders Bjork. Since Halak made $2.75 million over this season and last, saving $500,000 on this deal while retaining a netminder who would be highly sought after in free agency is a great deal.
Jaroslav Halak signs a one-year, $2.25 million extension. Slam-dunk decision for both parties.
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) May 1, 2020
For Halak, the decision was a no-brainer; he loves to win and hates to lose and with this team, he has a chance to win a lot.
Halak: “I hate losing. I’ve hated it since I was a kid. And with this team, we have a chance to win every night.”
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 2, 2020
Jaro also loves the city and the team, saying several times that this is a special group of guys and that they have a lot of fun together. One has to assume this is the truth because just about every player says the same thing about the team and each other.
You can catch all that Halak had to say with his media availability below.
Hi folks.
I’ve been for a run this morning, which was less tough than expected since its the first time in about two months.
I’m definitely no fitness freak but I had no trouble getting to my 10,000 steps per day in The Before Times so this lockdown must be affecting the old legs.
I have been strictly observing the stay-at-home rule, only leaving the house for the Thursday shop over the last six weeks. However, at the weekend Leah wanted to run around a bit.
There’s some common land about a 5min walk from the house – it has a perimeter footpath just over a kilometer long and is roughly square, to give you an idea of the size. There were about 30 people there, so social distancing was no issue. Good for the mind.
It’s good to get out for exercising if you can do it safely. Yesterday at our local park, many people were out and about because it was gorgeous but about 80% of them wore no face coverage. It made me feel less than comfortable.
We’ve been seeing lots of people without masks. Why would people want to be unsafe?
The plus side of working at home for me has been fitness. I’ve learned to not eat donuts all the time, and the time saved on my morning commute has been spent on the Nordic Trac x-country ski machine. I’m up to 1.5 miles per session., which supposedly translates to 150 kCal burned (though I set the resistance higher than avg and swing 3 lb hand weights, so probably more).
Perhaps I’ll get down to a healthy weight for my frame.
So, I’m in the “hem all those pants legs that are too long” stage of social distancing. Some of these pants I’ve had FOR YEARS and have dealt with them either by safety pinning them (bad) or not wearing them (really dumb). One pair was a full 7″ longer than needed. Seriously made for an Amazon. I’m using a new stitch for my knit pants (the honeycomb!). Truth be told, I needed a break from making masks and I enjoy sewing. So win-win.
For weeks now, we’ve been talking on BoT about what the Bruins would and should do about a backup for next season. I asked if it was reasonable to sign Halak for slightly less, like $2.5M. Turns out I wasn’t wrong to ask and Jaro knocked off even more, $500K. So, I feel smart and the Bruins have a great backup. There were thoughts that he could get up to $3.5M on the open market; I’m not exactly sure how because so many teams are getting screwed with this flat cap.
I’m a but surprised he agreed to take a half-mil pay cut after such a strong couple of seasons. Guess he really likes it in Boston!
The super long pair are a bit silly. Did you need to spar with a 6’5″ woman at the store to acquire them?
No, but I totally would’ve gone for her knees if I did.
Morning all. Why does everything have to fall apart at the same time? My laptop is struggling. Coffee maker is on it’s last legs. Cracked my phone screen and my sneakers now have holes in them. Enough already! I need a break!
Or things not to break. Or a break from things breaking.
Just put a ban on breaking!
It’s awful when everything breaks all at once. Like everything’s waranty just ends simultaneously.
Oof, these things usually happen in threes, so you’ve really drawn the short straw.
Hey, I learned today that Ben & Jerry’s is based in Vermont! Anywhere near you? I don’t have a very sweet tooth but I could eat ice cream by the bucket.
I learned this, btw, on The World According to Jeff Goldblum, which is very entertaining.
IW and I have been there! My sister used to live in a town that housed the factory.
According to a map, Sis is not too far from there at all.
They have a graveyard for flavours that didn’t last!
I really miss the Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz. That was my favorite one they made.
They remake it like once a year. When I see it, I pick it up for IW.
I can’t even remember the last time I bought Ben & Jerry’s. One of those “around it so much it blends into the background” kind of things.
Yeah, I get it. It’s lke Dominos- the pizza you know is there but you almost never order (unless you slice open your thumb grating cheese for dinner that you can’t make anymore.)
Personally, I like going out for ice cream more than buying it for home consumption. Those were the days!
And when I get ice cream it’s usually mint chocolate chip which B&J’s only has at scoop shops.
I love Mint Chocolate Cookie myself
Me too.
It’s like a crime against humanity that they dropped that one.
Yeah, some of them, it’s no wonder. I definitely took some pictures of that.
SatanDad worked for Ben & Jerry’s (at their corporate headquarters up in Burlington) when he first moved to Vermont. 3 free pints of ice cream a day is fun at the beginning then you get pretty sick of ice cream.
SatanDad was always willing to be a taste tester for the research & development team!
I’m about 20 minutes from their factory and tourist thingy.
Wow, that sounds great!
Three free pints a day, you say? Do they happen to have any breweries or distilleries in the area ..?
Hahaha! I am very close the Lawson’s brewery. I hear they do pay well.
I seem to recall at least one brewpub in Burlington.
The Ben & Jerry’s tourist trap is a good stop. One gets to see much of the ice cream making & packaging process, try a flavor, and of course there’s a gift shop and an ice cream stand there. It’s on top of a tall hill so one gets a mini workout climbing from the parking lot to the building, which is probably a good thing.
Everything in threes. I see it all the time…
Definitely glad to have Halak back. That’s a good deal for the team. I hadn’t even realized at the time that Sweenius saved $500k over this year’s cap hit! I’d have to imagine that he’d get a bigger deal on the free market. I imagine that he’ll be a tempting target for the Seattle expansion team (assuming that all the best #1 G are protected – including Tuukka).
I keep forgetting the Seattle expansion is a thing.
Actually, at this point we have no goalies exposed for expansion since both deals are expriring in 2021. So, next season will be interesting to see if a) Tuukka re-signs and b) they promote any of the two-way deal goalies (Vladar, Keyser, Swayman). Vladar is an RFA whose deal is up after this current season.
Good Morning!!!
Yay! Glad to have Jaro for another year!!! The Bruins have the best goaltendind duo in hockey!!
Mac is sounding stronger. If she would leave her IV in, she’d be even better, but she can’t remember why it’s there so she pulls it out.
Beautiful weekend, but the highlight was Sandy Brook on Friday. It sounds so peaceful and bucolic… not so much. It’s a narrow gorge running down a mountain. It twists and turns…. and drops. 4 1/2 miles of continuous holy shit! It’s hard to follow others as they disappear around a corner or down a drop. You have to read the river quickly and keep thinking four or five moves ahead. Super intense. All four of us aced it! (There are horror stories). I couldn’t sleep Friday night…. I was that pumped up!
Glad that Mac seems to be improving. (Though pulling out IVs strikes me as a bad habit to get into — unless one is prone to being kidnapped by spies)
Mac won’t talk!! Sodium Pentathol? Ha! She laughs at it!
Glad to hear she’s getting better. That IV thing though, eek! I can’t imagine pulling one out and not fainting afterward.
That’s good news about Mac. The boating sounds like a blast although I wouldn’t want to risk hospitalisation in the current climate!