Many believe Brian Elliott won't be back with the Calgary Flames next year based on the way things ended this season. Should that be the case, they will need to add a new starting goaltender this summer.
One possible, if not likely, target is Ben Bishop, according to a recent article Eric Francis penned for Sportsnet.
Last year they danced, this year it’s bound to get more serious.Following the dramatic collapse of Brian Elliott in the two most important games of the season, the Calgary Flames will undoubtedly be looking elsewhere for their next starting goaltender.
And the most logical target will be a man they quietly courted last June: Ben Bishop.
Bishop was linked to the Flames at the draft a year ago so it's easy to see why that's happening again with both parties seemingly in the same boat.
A couple teams have reportedly already reached out to Los Angeles about acquiring Bishop's rights and it would be no surprise if the Flames were one of them.
Couple of teams have inquired with LAK about trading for rights to pending UFA goalie Ben Bishop. Just like Carolina traded for Darling...
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 1, 2017
While Bishop is the sexier name and has a higher perceived value, I'm not sure he'd be much of an upgrade over Elliott. Take a look at how the two compare statistically over the last two seasons.
Elliott's 5v5 save percentage is slightly higher than Bishop's while the latter has the overall advantage. Elliott has given his team a quality start in a higher percentage of his games, although Bishop's sample size is a little bigger.
I'm not pointing this out to knock Bishop. He is a good goaltender and I think he'd do well with the Flames. I just happen to think Elliott is a good goaltender who would do well with the Flames.
Though his season didn't go the way many, myself included, expected (he posted a .910 save percentage), the same can be said about Bishop (he also posted a .910 save percentage).
Both goaltenders are probably in line for bounce back years. The difference is Elliott could probably be had for ~$3 million per season on a short-term deal while Bishop will likely cost double that on a long-term deal.
Despite how things ended, I think the Flames' best option would be to re-sign Elliott and use the extra money to upgrade the blue line and find a legitimate top-4 partner for T.J. Brodie. Unfortunately, I don't think that is what they are going to do.
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