St. Louis Blues Trade Goaltender Brian Elliott to Calgary Flames
The St. Louis Blues dealt the player who was arguably most instrumental in their success during 2015-16.
The St. Louis Blues made a saddening, if not surprising, move during the early part of Friday night’s NHL Draft, trading goaltender Brian Elliott to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a second-round pick (35th overall) in this year’s draft and a conditional third-rounder in 2018.
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That pick will come to the Blues if the Flames trade Elliott before he hits unrestricted free agency at the end of the 2016-17 season, or if he is re-signed at the conclusion of his current deal.
Over his five seasons in St. Louis, the Blues were 104-46-16 in front of Elliott. He posted a 2.01 goals against average, .925 save percentage, and a franchise record 25 shutouts in 181 regular season games. Elliott’s most successful season in St. Louis was the most recent one, as he went 23-8-6 with a .930 save percentage and a league-best .930 save percentage. In 18 playoff games, Elliott collected nine wins, including a shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Blues. During his Blues career, Elliott led the team to three playoff series wins, and he’s the only goaltender who has done so since the 2001-02 season.
Jake Allen will take over as the Blues’ starter in 2016-17 after two seasons of sharing the net with Elliott. Blues GM Doug Armstrong remarked on Friday night that the timeshare situation was becoming a bit tiresome for both goaltenders, and it was time that they picked a regular starter.
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With Elliott out of the picture, the Blues will need a new backup for Allen. In an interview with the Blues’ website, Armstrong said that the Blues will search on the free agent market for a new backup goaltender, though he said at one point on Friday that restricted free agent Anders Nilsson would return in 2016-17, likely meaning that he’d take over as the primary backup. The Blues also have prospects Pheonix Copley and Jordan Binnington, both of whom played mostly at AHL Chicago in 2015-16 but got cups of coffee in the NHL, and newly-signed Finnish prospect Ville Husso, who is expected to play his first season in North America in 2016-17.