St. Louis Blues Place Brian Elliott on IR, Recall Pheonix Copley
The St. Louis Blues placed Brian Elliott on IR Tuesday, ending an incredible 18-game run for the veteran goaltender.
The St. Louis Blues placed goaltender Brian Elliott on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury on Tuesday morning, effectively ending an incredible streak of 18 consecutive games started during which he ascended to the top of the league leaderboards in goals-against average and save percentage while going 12-3-2. Elliott exited Monday’s loss to the San Jose Sharks with what looked to be a knee injury after allowing a goal to Logan Couture. To say that the Blues losing is Elliott is major would still be a gross understatement.
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With Elliott out of the picture for at least the next month, the Blues will turn back to Jake Allen, who was the team’s primary starting goaltender before going down with an injury on January 8, but just returned to active duty on Monday, replacing Elliott after his injury and allowing two goals on 17 shots. Allen’s put up great numbers in his own right this season, putting up a 2.18 GAA and .923 save percentage with five shutouts, but the skaters in front of him just don’t seem to play with the same passion when he’s in net as they do with Elliott.
The Blues recalled goalie Pheonix Copley from AHL Chicago on Tuesday to take Elliott’s spot on the roster, and it’s highly likely that he’ll make his NHL debut this weekend considering that the Blues play back-to-backs on Saturday and Sunday at Nashville and Carolina, and Allen may still be unfit for that type of workload since he’s fresh off an injury. Despite having spent time with the Washington Capitals last season and with the Blues as Elliott’s backup earlier this month, the 24-year-old Copley still has yet to play in a game. This season at the AHL level, he’s 12-12-2 with a 2.73 GAA, a .907 save percentage, and three shutouts.
If the Blues don’t want to rely on Copley or fellow prospect Jordan Binnington to start important games down the stretch, they might want to explore a trade for an NHL-tested backup goaltender. With the deadline coming up next Monday, one would have to imagine that Doug Armstrong will at least be placing inquiries about the availability of goalies as the clock ticks down to zero.
One logical trade target could be 33-year-old vet Peter Budaj, who’s played in 297 NHL games over 10 seasons. He played in just one game for the Los Angeles Kings this season, allowing four goals on 28 shots, but he’s been absolutely dominant in the AHL, putting up a 1.58 GAA and .935 save percentage with eight shutouts for the Ontario Reign.
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Others who could be considered would include Anton Khudobin, a veteran of 99 NHL games who played in eight games for the Anaheim Ducks earlier this season, putting up a 2.70 GAA, .908 save percentage, and a shutout before being sent back down to the AHL, and 38-year-old Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who is a veteran of 409 NHL games and 11 playoff contests, but hasn’t played in a game since January 13 of last year as the Wild have relied on Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kuemper.