http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/p ... bcfde.html
If you don’t think a goaltender’s life can be curious, consider the case of Brian Elliott.
Elliott is 29, at the height of his athletic prowess. He just completed a third season with the Blues, a season that paid him $1.8 million. That’s outrageously good coin for a roofer, but modest for NHL goalkeepers. Thirty-six goaltenders in the NHL made more than Elliott last season.
Over the past three seasons, Elliott had a 55-24-7 record, 1.86 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and 16 shutouts. For perspective, compare Nashville’s Pekka Rinne.
Over the same three seasons, Rinne is 140-68-44 with a 2.47 GAA, .916 save percentage and 12 shutouts. And here’s the most peculiar part — Rinne made $7 million last season. He will make it again in 2014-15 and again for four more seasons after.
Elliott is unemployed and, his modest salary history notwithstanding, he can’t be sure the Blues are even a suitor for his services.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Elliott said. “From the very beginning of the season, my agent said, ‘Let’s approach the end of the year like you’re going to be a free agent, and if other things happen, that’s fine.’ So I wasn’t hung up on the issue.”
BLUES CHAT: JEREMY RUTHERFORD AT 1 PM
In a sense, nothing has happened. That is, to this point the Blues have not invested in Elliott. In another sense, a lot happened. That is, the Blues traded netminder Jaroslav Halak to acquire goaltender Ryan Miller. The celebrated Miller consequently was inserted as the breadwinner down the stretch and through the brief postseason.
Elliott possibly played the final 15 minutes, 22 seconds of his Blues career in relief of a 4-2 loss at Minnesota on April 10. He never left the bench during the Chicago playoff series. That was no surprise.
“I’m not naïve,” Elliott said, “and I understand why I was sitting. It was a move that they made and they kind of had to go with it.”
The move fizzled. The team was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round. Miller’s presence notwithstanding, it was a carbon copy of the first-round ousting a year earlier when Elliott was in the saddle. Different goalie, same result.
“It’s hard to watch at any time, sure, it’s not fun,” Elliott said, referring to his playoff role. “You want to be out there with the guys who you worked hard with all season, blood, sweat and tears.
“But that wasn’t the case. ... We could sit here and worry about things and analyze it until the cows come home. But it’s not going to do any good.”
General manager Doug Armstrong has made it clear goaltender Jake Allen will have residency next season. Allen made a fourth tour of duty in the American Hockey League this season.
The roster, the budget, has one opening and two candidates. The road has two distinct directions to travel.
Miller, like Elliott, is an unrestricted free agent. He was paid $6.25 million in 2013-14. He turns 34 in July and figures to pursue a compensation package in line with his stellar reputation.
That said, Miller has indicated he enjoyed St. Louis and would entertain an opportunity to stay. To commit to Miller and the salary he would command, the Blues would be rendering Allen to internship status.
If the Blues sign Miller before the NHL draft, their trade compensation to Buffalo includes this summer’s first-round pick, the 20th choice overall. In turn, they would get Buffalo’s No. 2 pick, which is 31st overall, or 11 picks later. If they sign Miller after the draft, the Blues surrender a second-round pick to Buffalo in 2016.
Elliott represents a distinctly different path. He shared starting responsibilities the past three seasons in St. Louis and, for the most part, thrived in the arrangement. Elliott combined with Halak to win the William Jennings Trophy in 2011-12, contributing a .940 save percentage and 1.56 GAA.
Last season, Elliott had a .922 save percentage and 1.96 GAA, the latter number being second best in the league. He also improved his “Goals Saved Above Average” from minus-2.67 in 2012-13 to 5.68 in 2013-14. GSAA measures the number of saves a goalie makes compared to the league average against the same number of shots.
If the Blues commit to Elliott, it would be at considerably less than Miller’s rate. It also would define a more prominent role for Allen, who turns 24 in August.
Elliott does not view things in rose-colored glasses. Like anyone, he wants the best contract possible. But he is realistic.
“I think based on everything, you know what your worth is,” Elliott said.
In his world, he wants a genuine opportunity, not a shallow promise.
“What you want is a fair fight,” Elliott said. “If you earn an opportunity, you get an opportunity. That’s the big thing.”
This isn’t 1995-96; Grant Fuhr doesn’t play 79 games anymore. There are still a few goalies who do heavy lifting, but there are more situations where the chores get split more evenly.
“The league is kind of changing that way,” Elliott said. “I think they saw me and Jaro, the way we both played a lot of games my first year here, and what we did. And I think that was kind of a turning point in the league.”
Elliott would like to return. He has established valued relationships and levels of trust in the Blues’ room. He knows where his next role and next contract might fit most seamlessly.
“St. Louis has been good to me,” Elliott added. “We’ve had the best years of my career here, a lot of success, a lot of wins. It’s fun when you’re winning, and the grass is not always greener on the other side. I know that from personal experience.
“It’s a quality-of-life thing when you know you’re going to have success and that’s what is expected. I feel like I’ve gained the trust of the guys (here). They know that I want to play for them, and they want to play for me, and that’s something that takes time to establish.”
In his curious world, Elliott already has demonstrated good numbers and a hard-working reputation in one of the cities where he could potentially play next.
But it remains to be seen whether that team — the Blues — has interest.