Giordano
Kiprusoff
for
Cole
Halak
Medium-caliber future: 2d/3d/decent but not top prospect (e.g., Fairchild, Lehtera)
Analysis:
Kiprusoff has a 5.83M cap hit which rules out many teams for a trade (obvs not the Blues). HOWEVER he only makes 1.5M next year, the last one on his deal. This season the pro-rated portion of 5M at the deadline would be something like 800K. Giordano's deal is 4M/yr for the next three years and cap hit is almost the exact same. Halak is due to make 4.5M next year and then be UFA, but there'd be no reason Calgary wouldn't sign him to a deal in that ballpark unless he implodes beforehand.
Giordano and Kiprusoff's combined cap hit: 9.853M next year. Halak and Cole would probably be ~5M cap hit next year, as Halak is 3.75M and Cole is 1.3M now (but won't be due any sizeable raise). However, Giordano and Kiprusoff earn 5.5M in real dollars next year where Halak + Cole would earn closer to 6M in real dollars (4.5M + ~1.5M). After next year, if Allen's ready give him the starter job, and if not sign Kiprusoff for another two years at a more reasonable cap hit.
This whole idea depends on whether the Blues get a long, good enough look at Jake Allen and decide they can turn over a starter's job to him (or 1A/1B platoon) in the 14-15 season. We don't know what management thinks of Allen and Halak long term. But let's say they're thinking about it right now and realize that when Halak hits UFA at the end of next year, his salary is going to be sizeable. He's already the highest-paid Blue currently. He has also been gimped up and directly harmed the team each of the last three years with the gimpup. In 10-11 the Blues were in playoff position on New Year's Day but had a collapse in January when Halak struggled and was hurt. 11-12, the playoffs. 13, just recently including the moments-before-puck-drop stunt. They could conclude that having a injury period every single year for a guy making 4.5M is not how a budget team can afford goalies.
Calgary gets a huge assist in the cap room department while paying roughly the same dollars. Going from Kiprusoff to Halak for them is the carrot. Sure, they could try to move Kiprusoff at the deadline and maybe get a 1st, but that's the "rebuild" thing Feaster has been loath to do. Getting Halak as the return rather than a 1st is getting a goalie in his prime, plus 4.85M cap savings. It's a hockey trade.
Obviously Giordano to Cole is a downgrade by more than Kiprusoff to Halak is a organizational upgrade (due to the 9 year age difference), so we balance with futures, but not a top prospect or a 1st. Then the Blues still have both Rattie and Jaskin in the pipeline, along with 5 locked-in defenders: Petro, Shattenkirk, Giordano, Jackman, Polak. They can use the 6/7 spot as an "element" spot (toughness, PMD, etc.). Using 6/7 as an element spot means some of the up and comers like Edmundson, Hakanpaa, Cundari, Fairchild (different elements) can be pulled into the lineup without having to handle huge responsibility right away. The Blues could retain Russell depending on how he rebounds, or they might go after one of the free agent NCAA upperclassmen defenders getting talked about now.
So for the Blues it's salary-neutral, gives you a solid veteran who's still good enough to have posted a .921 playing 70 games last year, a guy who Allen can back up (or Elliott, if he regains his confident form), and it fixes the LHD situation. He's having a similar year to Halak right now, though Calgary is a clearly worse team than the Blues. What you lose there is the attachment to Halak being the franchise netminder. Many of our fans have this, IMO a bit undeservedly.
I suspect I'll get an "anti-Halak" rap for suggesting this, and it's not that as much as two factors: 1) IF Armstrong et.al. think Allen can be the guy sooner rather than later and 2) Halak's iffy injury history plus his status as highest paid Blue make him a risky guy to make your franchise netminder. If those are things Armstrong is thinking about, the Blues would actually make a decent trading partner with Calgary.
