BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) The Calgary Flames addressed their biggest need entering the NHL draft weekend by acquiring goalie Brian Elliott in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for their second-round pick this season.
Flames general manager Brad Treliving said Thursday he was intent on landing a goalie. But he didn’t necessarily think the team was close to a deal.
”To handicap it, we’re looking at everything and balancing it,” Treveling said. ”You know we’re going to have one come October.”
The 31-year-old Elliott has seven seasons of NHL experience and was 23-8-6 last season, plus started and starred most of their playoff run this spring that ended in the Blues’ first appearance in the Western Conference finals since 2001. Besides acquiring the 35th overall pick in this year’s draft, the Blues get a conditional third-round selection in 2018.
”You need a dance partner, that’s how it works,” Treliving said. ”But you’d always like to get that taken care of, and that’s sort of our preference right now.”
The Blues’ starting job goes to Jake Allen, who shared the job with Elliott last season. They also need salary cap space to re-sign forwards Jaden Schwartz and David Backes.
Elliott is due to be an restricted free agent after next season.
The Flames have had difficulty filling the goalie spot after Jonas Hiller, Karri Ramo, Joni Ortio and Niklas Backstrom splt the duties last season. All four completed the final years of their contracts, with Ortio the only one eligible to be a restricted free agent.
Elliott spent the last five seasons with St. Louis and was 104-46-16 with a 2.01 goals-against average. He has 34 career shutouts, including a franchise-record 25 for St. Louis.
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