The New York Islanders signed a goaltender to a long-term deal, signifying their expectation that they will be better next season. Travian Robertson Falcons Jersey . Numbers Game looks at the Islanders securing the services of Jaroslav Halak. The Islanders Get: G Jaroslav Halak. Halak, 29, was going to be one of the best free agent goaltenders available this summer when the Islanders made a pre-emptive move to acquire him from Washington. While there are ups-and-down in Halaks game from year to year, over the past five years, he has the third-best save percentage among goaltenders with at least 200 games played. Over the same time period, Halak has a .927 save percentage during 5-on-5 play, which puts him in pretty good company. As noted, there have been ups and downs in Halaks performance, with the worst of the downs his 2012-2013 season -- an injury-plagued season in which he finished with an .899 save percentage in 16 games. In every other season, since 2008-2009, Halaks save percentage has ranged from .910 to .926, so there is a good chance that he can provide above-average goaltending for the Islanders and that would represent a significant upgrade. Using Hockey References Goals Saved Above Average, for example, Halak has saved approximately 42 goals above average over the past five years and will effectively be replacing Evgeni Nabokov, who is 11.51 goals above average over those same five years (one of which was spent in Russia), so just on average over those seasons, Halak would provide a five-to-six goal difference and factoring in that Nabokov is 38 and Halak is 29, its clear that Halak is likely to have superior numbers over the next four seasons. Halak signed for four years and $18-million, which is entirely reasonable for a starting goaltender. His cap hit of $4.5-million ranks 15th among goaltenders already signed for next season. The decision to sign Halak and, on the same day, announce that they would be keeping this years first-round pick (meaning that the Islanders 2015 first-round pick goes to Buffalo) is a clear indication that the Islanders expect to rebound from this down season and, believe it or not, thats a perfectly reasonable decision. They finished 19th in Fenwick Close (unblocked 5-on-5 shot attempts, within one goal in first two periods, tied in third), which is a good measure for puck possession and did so with several notable injuries and players departing via trade, so its fair to think that the Islanders can be a middle of the pack club, with goaltending offering the chance to be a bit above average or, if it goes wrong again, below average. Those expectations will put Halak in the spotlight, but his track record is strong enough to justify the Islanders investment. The Capitals Get: A fourth-round pick. While Halak played well for Washington, after coming over in trade from St. Louis, posting a .930 save percentage in a dozen games, its also not a surprise that Washington might not be inclined to keep him long-term. After all, the Capitals already have Braden Holtby, who has a .919 save percentage in 105 career games, as well as prospect Philip Grubauer (.924 SV% in 19 GP with Capitals) waiting in the wings, so there wasnt a lot of upside to spending on Halak. Of course, this decision cant entirely ignore the fact that the Capitals dont have a general manager since firing George McPhee. Brian MacLellan made out quite well in the interim, however, securing a fourth-round pick in exchange for negotiatiing rights to an asset that the Capitals apparently didnt intend to keep. There isnt a lot of value to a fourth-round pick, maybe a 15% chance that it turns into an NHL player, but for a player that could provide zero value to Washington next season, thats well-played. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Joplo Bartu Falcons Jersey . Canadian midfielder and Winnipeg native Desiree Scott is thrilled the team will play in her hometown for the first time since 1990. "Im beyond excited," she said. Dezmen Southward Falcons Jersey . Brands was the only German player available to play Sunday, after Tommy Haas and Philipp Kohlschreiber won their doubles match Saturday for an unassailable 3-0 lead. Kohlschreiber pulled out of his reverse singles match against Spanish No. LAKELAND, Fla. -- Ricky Romeros comeback bid hit another road bump Tuesday in an ugly 18-4 Jays loss to a Detroit Tigers split squad. The plan was for Romero and Marcus Stroman to combine for nine innings, with none of Torontos established bullpen members along for the ride. Instead the Tigers had their way with Romero, Jeremy Jeffress, Stroman and Marcus Walden. How bad was the Jays day? Romero had a dismal outing and he was long gone before the Tigers put up nine runs in the fifth inning for a 13-0 lead. The Jays issued 11 walks and were outhit 17-6 by Detroit in three hours and 28 minutes of spring training torment. Reading Detroits linescore was like dialling Moscow: 02119302. "Today all the way around it was just a bad day, every phase of the game," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "Ill let that one go. Ive got nothing to say. Tough for me to analyze. You were watching what I was watching." Several questions later, Gibbons did offer some analysis. "It just shows you if you dont pitch, its tough to play," he said. Romero gave up a two-run homer to Austin Jackson in the second after hitting a Tiger to put him on base and yielded another run in an unsightly third inning that featured a triple, four walks and two wild pitches. It could have been far worse, but two Tigers were caught stealing in the inning. The left-hander exited after 2 2/3 innings, giving way to Jeffress after yielding three runs on three hits with five walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches. Unofficially Romero threw 57 pitches, 23 for strikes on a sunny 20-degree day with 8,328 on hand at scenic Joker Marchant Stadium. "Weve taken too many steps forward to dwell on this," Romero said philosophically afterwards. Romero and Jeffress walked eight between them in the first four innings. Asked afterwards if Romero would get another start, Gibbons opted not to answer. But he did note Romeros earlier improved outings. "Im encouraged. Ive seen it. So he can still build off that," he said. Likely in the minor leagues again, however. Things continued to fall apart when Stroman gave up a walk, four singles, a double and a grand slam homer to Don Kelly in a fifth inning that went from bad to worse. It took Stroman, a first-round pick in the 2012 draft, seven batters to record an out in the inning. Walden, a fellow minor-leaguer, took over and the onslaught continued as Ian Kinsler slammed a three-homer over the left-field fence. Jeffress walked three and struck out two while giving up an unearned run in 1 1/3 inning. Stroman got one out, at the expense of six hits and seven earned runs. Walden gave up five earned runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings. While Romero suffered a meltdown on the mouund, Toronto bats were quiet against Tigers starter Drew Smyly. Deion Sanders Falcons Jersey. Melky Cabrera, with a single and double, and Colby Rasmus (walk) were the only Jays to get on base in Smylys five innings. Toronto finally got on the board in the sixth inning with four runs against reliever Blaine Hardy. And the scoreboard kept ticking with Detroit adding three in the sixth and two in the eighth. Randy Boone and Justin Jackson also pitched for Toronto. Romero had seemed to be writing a story with a happier ending this spring. He came into Tuesdays game having given up one run in seven innings for an ERA of 1.29 in three appearances that saw him strike out six and walk five. "The big talk of camp right now is Ricky Romero," Gibbons said last Thursday. "It looks like hes on the way back, and thats what excites us all." Romero had limited the Tampa Bay Rays to one run in four innings in his last outing with two of those innings clinical 1-2-3 affairs. Tuesday was his first start of the spring and it went south after a first inning that saw him give up a leadoff single but get it back with a double play. Romero gave up three runs on three hits, walking five with no strikeouts. He had two wild pitches and hit a batsman. Three Tiger base-running errors limited the damage. Romero said he wasnt following through on his delivery, for some reason, and had trouble with his off-speed pitches. "Its a bad outing," he said. "Ive had three good outings. It happens as a pitcher ... My heads up. Its just a bad day." While saying he didnt want to make excuses, Romero somewhat strangely referred to a "weird weather day" in noting "the balls were a little slick and just kept coming out of my hand." Romero was an all-star in 2011 when he went 15-11 with a 2.92 earned-run average. In 2012, he slumped to 9-14 with a 5.77 ERA and things got worse in 2013, when he saw action in just four games in the majors with an 0-2 record and 11.05 ERA. The 29-year-old Los Angeles native spent most of last season in the minors where he went 5-8 with 5.52 ERA. A non-roster invitee this spring, Romero is due to make US$7.75 million both this season and next. Also Tuesday, left-hander Mark Buehrle and right-hander Brandon Morrow faced each other in an intra-squad game at the Jays minor-league complex. Morrow threw 3 2/3 innings with four hits, two runs (both earned), two walks and two strikeouts on 63 pitches. Buehrle went 4 1/3 innings with five hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and three strikeouts on 81 pitches. NOTES -- Tigers star Miguel Cabrera was part of the lineup playing the Mets .... Former Jay Rajai Davis was an injury scratch (hamstring) Tuesday. cheap jerseys ' ' '
