I am pretty sure you all know what happened after the 2010 playoffs, but let me remind you quickly. After carrying the team on his shoulders for the duration of the playoffs, Halak got traded for forwards Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. At that time, many people were claiming it was the worst deal ever, that the Habs got robbed and some even claimed that Halak was far superior to Carey Price.
Lately, the Slovakian goalie played some very solid minutes for the Islanders, and a few people are starting to wonder what's going to happen with Eller, who's playing on the 3rd line here in Montreal, and struggling to keep a decent offensive production. Not to talk about Schultz, who still has never played a single game in the NHL.
As for Lars Eller, he has played a total of 279 games with the Montreal Canadiens, scoring 43 goals and recording 58 assists for a total of 101 points. So, in return of a number one goaltender, we received a 0.36 point-per-game forward whose best season was 8 goals, 22 assists. Not only to mention Ian Schultz has yet to play his first NHL game and he probably never will.
As for Carey Price now, Montreal's starting goaltender, he's been in net for 235 games (which is an average of about 59 games per season), recording a GAA of 2.42 and a 0.918 save %. He has won 119 games, lost 89 games, and lost another 26 in overtime or shootout. This year, he has a 2.34 GAA and a 0.922 save %.
Basically, what I'm trying to show with this article is how the two goaltenders have kept similar stats over the course of these four years, and how we literally got robbed by trading Halak for Eller. Yes, he has played for three teams in four years, but wherever he went, he has always been able to show decent things. Now the defining factor could be the amount of games played in a season. Would Jaro Halak be able to be a starting goalie for more than 60 games? We might have an answer this year, since he in undoubtedly New-York's starting goaltender. As for the trade itself, Eller has shown promising things, but he has never been able to reach his full potential. Will he eventually become the power forward we've been promised, or will he stay a 3rd-4th liner? If Eller does not progress and stays where he is right now, and Halak keeps being on top of his game like he is right now, we will easily be able to say that this trade has been one of the worst even in Montreal's history.
Note: I feel the need to mention I put Price's statistics in here only for a comparison. My personal opinion is that at that time, and even today, Price still has a great potential and is truly the number one goaltender the Montreal Canadiens needed. I am mostly just saying that what Gauthier got in return of Halak was next to nothing.
