At the draft the Calgary Flames traded a couple draft picks, one of which was conditional, to acquire a starting goaltender in Brian Elliott.
While he is yet to suit up for the Flames in a meaningful game the team has already seen enough to want to keep him around for the long haul.
The Flames and Elliott's camp have started working on a new contract, according to St. Louis Blues reporter Andy Strickland.
Contract extension talks between Calgary and Brian Elliott are underway #flames #NHL
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) September 27, 2016
I think the Flames are smart to try and take care of Elliott early. Everyone who has been around Elliott has nothing but good things to say about him as a person and his numbers over the last few seasons speak for themselves.
Among goaltenders with at least 115 games played over the last three years Elliott ranks 3rd with a .923 save percentage. The only goaltenders ahead of him in that span are Carey Price (.931SV%) and Cory Schneider (.924SV%). Last I checked neither of them are unrestricted free agents a year from now so keeping Elliott around seems like a pretty good idea to me.
Another reason I think the Flames are smart to try and get something done now is that he has never been given a true No. 1 workload. That is the only thing that the team can use against him in negotiations so if they wait a year and he succeeds as the undisputed starter this season his price tag will only go up.
Elliott will be 32 before any extension kicks in so I'd be a little wary of giving him too much term but, other than that, I don't have any real concerns about extending his contract.
He has been a very good goaltender for years and there is not much evidence to suggest that won't continue moving forward.
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