Brian Elliott’s Return Imminent for St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott, who has missed the past 13 games with a knee sprain, is on pace to return soon after successfully getting through a full practice on Sunday afternoon. While Martin Brodeur will get the start in goal for the Blues on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, there’s a possibility that Elliott could return as soon as Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators, as reported by Lou Korac of NHL.com.
That should be a huge boost for the Blues, who are 8-4-1 with Elliott in net this year but have gone just 7-7 since his injury occurred. Elliott, who is third among NHL goaltenders in goals-against average (1.82) and fourth in save percentage (.931), should receive the bulk of the starts upon his return. It should be interesting to see what the Blues decide to do with their other goaltending options, Brodeur and Jake Allen.
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The 42-year-old Brodeur, who was signed after Elliott went down in late November, has been viewed by most as a temporary option until Elliott’s return. However, there’s no really easy way to get rid of him. He could be traded, which would be difficult considering his age and the fact that two of his three starts have been shaky. If the Blues can’t find a trade partner, the only realistic option would be to give him his outright release, as he would almost certainly refuse a minor-league assignment, and the Blues wouldn’t want to impede the development of their AHL goaltender, Jordan Binnington, anyway.
With that said, it will be uncomfortable for the organization to have to release a player who is widely viewed as the greatest goaltender in NHL history. In order for the team to delay that decision a bit longer, it’s theoretically possible that they could send forward Dmitrij Jaskin back to the AHL, which would allow them to carry three goaltenders for a while and ensure that Elliott is entirely healthy.
The other factor which complicates the decision on Brodeur is that rookie goalie Jake Allen, who is supposed to be the organization’s goaltender of the future, has fallen into a real slump lately. While he’s been a victim of bad defensive play at times, Allen has fallen all the way to 34th in goals-against average (2.76) and 40th in save percentage (.899) among qualifying NHL goalies. That’s troubling considering that he was near the top of those categories when Elliott went down.
While it’s difficult to imagine the Blues giving up on Allen, it’s possible that they could give him a little bit of a break and allow Elliott and Brodeur to hold down the goaltending duties while he works out his issues in practice. That may not be the likeliest of possibilities considering the heavy rotation that Ken Hitchcock tends to do with his forwards, but it’s something to keep in mind as the Blues try to figure out what to do with Brodeur.
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