He finished last season tied for second in the NHL in goals-against average and first in save percentage. In the five years Brian Elliott played goal for the St. Louis Blues, the numbers he posted were off-the-charts good.
But for Elliott, the elite numbers he posted didn't ever translate into an elite-level reputation, which is why the Calgary Flames were able to solve their gaping hole in goal Friday, by landing the 31-year-old in the most intriguing transaction of a relatively quiet first day of the NHL's annual entry draft.
For Calgary, the acquisition cost was extremely modest – just a second-round choice in this year's draft, plus a conditional pick in 2018, if Elliott eventually resigns with the Flames. He has a year left on his contract, and earns $2.5-million (U.S.).
The Flames kicked the tires on virtually every available goaltending option, but ultimately didn't want to surrender the sixth overall pick in the draft to get a deal done. That decision became even more important when London Knights forward Matthew Tkachuk, who projected to go as high as fourth, unexpectedly fell to them two places later.
Ideally, the Flames wanted a scoring winger to replace Jiri Hudler on the top line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau and Tkachuk figures to slot into that spot eventually.
For Flames' general manager Brad Treliving, it was the second year in a row in which he made an impact trade. A year ago, he gave up a first- and two second-round draft choices to land defenceman Dougie Hamilton from the Boston Bruins, a player they consider a core young piece on the blueline. Elliott, they hope, can stabilize a position that was an unmitigated disaster last year, after Calgary finished last in the league defensively.
Much of the trade talk surrounding the Montreal Canadiens heading into the draft focused on defenceman P.K. Subban, but general manager Marc Bergevin went in a different direction. First, he swapped Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals for a pair of future second-rounders and then gave up the 39th and 45th pick in this year's draft to land Andrew Shaw from the Chicago Blackhawks. Shaw was yet another salary-cap casualty in Chicago, but his departure may open up an opportunity to sign free-agent Andrew Ladd to a contract extension.
After the Toronto Maple Leafs took Auston Matthews first over all, the Winnipeg Jets followed by taking another potential franchise player, Finnish teenager Patrik Laine, second over all. There had been some wild speculation that the Jets would trade Laine, but that would not be in keeping with their draft-and-develop philosophy. In fact, they were able to move up four places in the draft, to 18 from 22, in order to land one of the more intriguing available prospects, 6-foot-7 defenceman Logan Stanley, a possible Zdeno Chara in the making.
Laine is projected to be the single most accomplished goal scorer in the draft, and Winnipeg scored the fewest goals in the tough, tight Central Division last year. Many believe Laine, like Matthews, can step right into the NHL next season, without any sort of apprenticeship.
The television cameras spent most of the hour leading up to the draft, tracking Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen in conversation with his counterparts, Peter Chiarelli of the Edmonton Oilers and Treliving. Columbus ultimately went off the board to select Pierre-Luc Dubois third over all, which left Edmonton all smiles, getting an enormous consolation prize in Jesse Puljujarvi, the big Finn from Karpat who will almost certainly end up playing on a line with Connor McDavid. Once upon a time, the Oilers had an exceptional Canadian-Finn pairing in Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri. It will be fascinating to see if McDavid-Puljujarvi can produce even a fraction of their magic.
The Vancouver Canucks made it three Finns in the top five, selecting defenceman Olli Juolevi from the London Knights, Tkachuk's junior teammate. Juolevi is considered the best all-round defenceman in the draft, and represents the second major defensive asset they've picked up in the off-season after acquiring Erik Gudbranson from the Florida Panthers.
At No. 9, the Canadiens then drafted Russian-born defenceman Mikhail Sergachev, the likely heir apparent to Andrei Markov a few years down the road. The Ottawa Senators then gave up a third-round pick to the New Jersey Devils to move up one spot and draft Logan Brown, the 6-foot-6 centre and son of former NHLer Jeff Brown.
The Arizona Coyotes' 27-year-old GM John Chayka made a splash, too – taking Pavel Datsyuk's contract off the hands of the Detroit Red Wings to move up four places in the draft to 16 from 20 in order to draft Jakob Chychrun, who plunged down the rankings and could end up being the steal of the draft.
It was an interesting night over all, all the high-end Finns ending up in Canada, Calgary getting their goalie and Tkachuk, Montreal landing the buzz-saw Shaw. None of the big-names circulated as possible trade bait had been moved as the first round wound down Friday, which just means it'll spill into Saturday or even next week, as the countdown to free agency begins.
Still, it was a big night for Calgary, a team that needed to make a goalie splash and did. Now, they just need to have that translate into success on the ice.