Flames Nab a Number One in Elliott

To Calgary	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
Brian Elliott	G	31	42	23	54	1	$2.5 mil
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To St. Louis	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	P	Years	Cap
2016 2nd Round Draft Pick (35th)
Conditional 2018 3rd Round Draft Pick

It was no secret that the Calgary Flames were shopping hard for a starting goalie this weekend and the comments were made that they were not going to leave this weekend in Buffalo without one in tow.

Mission accomplished.

The Flames took advantage of a goaltending glutton in St. Louis, acquiring Brian Elliott from the Blues for a 2nd round pick in this year's draft and another 2018 pick, if Elliott was to sign an extension with the club, which he can do officially after July 1st.

Elliott was caught in a tough situation in St. Louis, playing alongside Jake Allen, who the team had already tabbed as the number one goalie of the future, but the veteran had to come up big, when their future number one star was injured heading into the playoffs and couldn't make the starts.  Elliott shone his way into the Conference Finals, where they eventually lost to San Jose, but none of the blame could fall on Elliott, who played exceptionally well.

The Flames are well-endowed in draft picks this year, so giving up one of their 2nd round picks wasn't a struggle for Elliott and in the 31-year old, they will get a scrappy goaltender, who will come to work every night.  He also comes to town with a very reasonable cap hit and if the Flames were to extend him before the season started, they would be very likely to keep that cap number low for a few more seasons.

With the move made, the Flames currently have a projected roster of 15 players at a cap cost of $50.7 million, which is still below the cap floor for the coming season.  Of course, the Flames still have some big signings to make this Summer, re-signing the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, before we really get down to brass tax.