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Johnny Gaudreau

Johnny Gaudreau Re-Signs With Calgary Flames

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According to Elliotte Friedman and the player himself, Johnny Gaudreau has re-signed with the Calgary Flames for six seasons.  He’ll earn approximately $6.75MM per season, bringing him in almost half a million higher than Sean Monahan who signed earlier this summer. Johnny Gaudreau

In Gaudreau, the Flames have a budding superstar at a reasonable price. The diminutive winger put up 78 points last season as a 22-year old, and has been likened to other smaller players like Martin St. Louis and Patrick Kane. While Gaudreau might not be a perfect parallel for either of those two, his production has already blown his draft position out of the water.

The Flames selected him in the fourth round before he completely dominated the college hockey ranks at Boston College, and proved that even at 5’9″ (allegedly) he can make an impact at the highest level. Pairing him with Monahan, the prototypical top-line center has built a duo that is almost unstoppable in the offensive end, the two combining for 141 points last season, despite being 22 and 21 respectively.

The contract will buy out one of Gaudreau’s free agent years and, like many of the contracts this summer, has a strong portion of the money allotted in signing bonuses, making it resistant to buyouts or work-stoppages. While he will become a free agent before his 29th birthday, the Flames have locked in some cap-certainty for the next six seasons without going over their negotiating limit of $7MM. If Gaudreau continues on his pace, and decides to hit the open market in 2022, he’ll easily make up any money he left on the table here. A good sign for Flames fans though, is that both he and Monahan have expressed the desire to stay in Calgary for their entire careers – though this is far from a certainty.

Friedman’s Latest: RFAs, Yakupov, Datsyuk

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman published his weekly 30 Thoughts column today and devoted a significant portion to the big name RFAs who remain unsigned. His first note was on Nikita Kucherov, whose agent – Scott Greenspun – Friedman believes has met with at least one club on the subject of an offer sheet. Due to Tampa’s precarious cap situation, both in the short and long term, the Lightning would be vulnerable to an offer sheet, particularly this close to the start of the regular season when all teams must be in cap compliance. The Lightning have roughly $5.5MM in available cap space but Kucherov may well be able to land significantly more than that from another club. GMs tend to steer clear of offer sheets for fear of angering their colleagues but Kucherov’s talent and track record might eventually prove too tempting for one manager to resist.

The full column is always worth the read but here are a few more key points from Friedman:

  • With regards to Johnny Gaudreau, Friedman believes there has been progress made since the two sides met earlier this week. He also notes that negotiations could again reach a stalemate if and when the two sides have moved far enough. The key, Friedman says, is how many unrestricted free agent years the Flames will be buying out, suggesting the longer the term, the higher the AAV. Gaudreau has five years remaining before reaching free agency meaning a max, eight-year term would buy out three free agent seasons.
  • There may be as many as six teams with serious interest in trading for Winnipeg Jets RFA defenseman Jacob Trouba. The scribe lists Buffalo, N.Y. Rangers, Detroit, Colorado, Boston and Arizona as the clubs looking at making a deal for the talented young blue liner. Of course given Winnipeg’s believed asking price – a left defenseman of similar ability and age – it’s difficult to fathom any of the aforementioned clubs being a match. Evidently that thought has also occurred to the Jets and that has prompted interested suitors to try to engage a third team to help meet Winnipeg’s demands. One obvious team that could facilitate a trade would be Anaheim as Friedman notes. The Ducks still have Hampus Lindholm to come to terms with and recently sent both Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore – two of the team’s top blue line prospects – to San Diego in the AHL. They certainly have the depth to meet Winnipeg’s needs.
  • Apparently the Jets also asked Trouba’s camp to provide the numbers it would take to convince the 22-year-old to re-up in Winnipeg but they were told as long as the situation on the right side of the team’s defense remained the same that re-signing “wasn’t going to happen.”
  • Friedman wonders whether the St. Louis Blues will employ the newly acquired Nail Yakupov as a power play specialist and if so, would they play him with two right-shooting forwards. He notes that Yakupov’s man-advantage shooting percentage with Edmonton was 14.8% when on the ice with at least two right-handed forwards and just 7.1% otherwise. The problem with the theory is that the Blues list just three forwards who fire the puck from the starboard side and of those, just David Perron is likely to see much power play time. St. Louis does have four right-handed blue liners so the coaching staff could get creative if they have in fact given any thought to Friedman’s suggestion.
  • When the Arizona Coyotes agreed to take on the final year of Pavel Datsyuk’s contract from Detroit, it was thought their primary motivation was moving up in the 2016 draft four slots to secure the rights to talented young blue liner Jakob Chychrun. Secondarily, Datsyuk’s $7.5MM cap charge would help the team exceed the cap floor. However, Friedman reports that first-year GM John Chayka had something else entirely in mind. With Datsyuk already committed to signing in the KHL, Chayka tried to convince St. Petersburg to allow the Coyotes to speak with two of their players, Yevgeni Dadonov (perhaps misidentified in Friedman’s post as Evgeny Davydov) and Vadim Shipachyov, in exchange for releasing Datsyuk’s rights. Obviously it didn’t work out for Chayka but it shows his willingness to look at outside-the-box for ways to upgrade his roster.

Pacific Division Notes: Rodin, Gryba, Bennett, Coyotes Prospects

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In need of additional scoring punch up front, the Vancouver Canucks were hopeful Swedish winger Anton Rodin would earn a big league job and contribute some secondary scoring to the lineup. He has impressed during camp but now it looks as if his NHL debut will be postponed as the 25-year-old winger is experiencing soreness and swelling in his surgically repaired knee. Rodin suffered a severed tendon last year while playing in the Swedish Elite League and as Iain MacIntyre of the Province writes, it’s believed that Rodin has simply aggravated the knee by playing too much hockey in a relatively short period of time this preseason.

GM Jim Benning indicated Rodin will be held out of the lineup for up to a week to allow for rest and rehab.

“The injury got aggravated and so he’s going to have to take a step back. We’re going to give him a few days or week off here to get the swelling down, and from there just rehab so he’s a 100 per cent for us. We’re going to need him at 100 per cent.”

MacIntyre notes that Rodin is averaging a point-per-game through five preseason contests and has demonstrated an ability to protect the puck and to play in traffic against bigger opponents during exhibition games. The 2009 second-round pick has some experience in North America, skating in 111 games with Chicago in the AHL, scoring 14 goals and 41 points. He returned to Sweden in time for the 2014-15 season and would go on to win the Swedish League’s MVP in 2015-16.

Fortunately for Vancouver, the injury doesn’t appear serious and it looks as if Rodin will only be out a short time. It could threaten his availability to play in the season opener and as such, his absence could come into play as the Canucks look to finalize their roster.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • After signing Kris Russell to a one-year contract, the Edmonton Oilers have given fellow blue liner Eric Gryba permission to speak with other clubs in an attempt to land a job, tweets Jason Gregor of the Edmonton Journal. This would seem to suggest Gryba, who is in camp with the Oilers on a PTO, will not make the Edmonton roster. If Gryba fails to find a spot in another organization, Gregor believes he could continue to skate with the team, though of course he would be doing so without a contract. Gryba spent the first three years of his NHL career with Ottawa before a 2015 trade sent the defenseman to Edmonton. He appeared in 53 games in 2015-16 with the Oilers and tallied one goal and six points.
  • It’s looking more and more likely the Arizona Coyotes will break camp with a few rookies among their ranks, writes Sarah McLellan of AZ Central. Dylan Strome was expected to make the team and fill a scoring line pivot role and has done nothing in camp to change that line of thinking. Recently he’s been skating with Lawson Crouse and Anthony Duclair on the team’s second line. Speaking of Crouse, the Coyotes value his grit and toughness though it’s still likely he doesn’t start the season with Arizona. Laurent Dauphin could force his way into a 4th line role and has evidently earned the trust of his teammates with his hard work. McLellan also notes the team is still giving looks to forwards Christian Dvorak and Christian Fischer along with blue liners Jakob Chychrun and Anthony DeAngelo. Whatever happens it seems quite possible that several rookies will be suiting up for the Coyotes in 2016-17.
  • Calgary Flames center Sam Bennett appears poised for a breakout campaign as a sophomore in the NHL, writes Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Herald. Bennett, who scored 18 goals and 36 points in 77 games as a rookie, is already well on his way to earning the trust of new head coach Glen Gulutzan due to his responsible two-way play this preseason. The 20-year-old pivot has also made an impression on veteran winger Troy Brouwer, with whom he has skated with this preseason: “He’s a good player. He sees the ice well and he reads the game well, which is a tough thing and a unique thing to have, especially at 20 years old. I think he’s the type of player, under this coach, who is going to have a lot of responsibility and it’s really going to elevate his game.” Gilbertson notes that with Johnny Gaudreau still unsigned and not playing, Calgary has struggled putting the puck in the net scoring just nine times in seven games. If Gaudreau is out for any extended period of the regular season, Bennett could help fill the scoring void created by his absence.

RFA Focus: Johnny Gaudreau

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With the season now just a week away, the pressure for teams to come to terms with their remaining restricted free agents really starts to increase.  Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau is the most notable RFA left on the market.  Here is a closer look at his situation.

2015-16

Last season was Gaudreau’s second in the NHL and he improved upon a strong rookie year with a stellar sophomore campaign.  He set career highs in goals (30), assists (48), and points (78) which not only gave him the team lead in scoring but also ranked him eighth overall in league scoring.  He also saw his ice time increase to 19:55 per game which was 13th highest among all NHL forwards.

Statistics

2015-16: 79 GP, 30 goals, 48 assists, 78 points, +4 rating, 20 PIMS, 217 shots on goal
Career: 160 GP, 55 goals, 88 assists, 143 points, +16 rating, 34 PIMS, 385 shots on goal

The Market

Unlike the other remaining RFAs, Gaudreau is not eligible to receive an offer sheet as he has not accrued three years of professional service time.  That really limits his leverage as GM Brad Treliving doesn’t have to worry about another team swooping in and making an offer that’s well above what they’re willing to pay.  Basically, Gaudreau’s only card to play is to hold out from signing until he gets the deal he’s looking for (or close enough to it).

Apr 7, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) during the face off against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY SportsVarious reports over the summer have Gaudreau looking for a max term eight year contract worth around $8MM annually.  That would make him tied for the 14th highest cap hit in the league this season with Pittsburgh’s Phil Kessel.  All of the players with a higher cap hit are at least 27 years old; by comparison, Gaudreau is just 23.

Therein lies the problem.  With just two full seasons of NHL experience, Gaudreau doesn’t have a long history of consistent production like those making the most money do.  The last two players to get $8MM or more on a contract just two years into their careers were Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin ($8.7MM) and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin (just over $9.5MM) and those deals were signed back in 2008 with both having a 100+ point season under their belts.  There simply isn’t much precedent for handing out that type of money to a player with the type of production that Gaudreau has.

Comparable Contracts

Filip Forsberg (Nashville) – Six years, $36MM – Forsberg signed this contract back in the summer after two straight 60+ point seasons.  While Gaudreau out produced him, Forsberg also carries the pedigree of being a first round pick which often is worth some extra money.  That said, had this deal been the eight years that Gaudreau is seeking, the AAV would come in higher than $6MM per season.

Sean Monahan (Calgary) – Seven years, $44.625MM – This deal was signed about six weeks ago with Monahan being arbitration-eligible.  He’s more of a well-rounded player than Gaudreau and is viewed as a possible captain of the future but Monahan’s career high in points is 63, well below what Gaudreau was able to produce last season.

Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis) – Eight years, $60MM – The Blues gave Tarasenko this deal last offseason following Tarasenko’s third NHL campaign, one in which he had just hit the 70 point mark for the first time in his career.  The Russian also has a similar profile to that of Gaudreau in that they’re both offense-first players who aren’t asked to log major defensive minutes.

By the way, the average cap hit for the seven players who finished ahead of Gaudreau in scoring last season is $7.04MM.

Projected Contract

Given that the season is nearing and the lack of precedent (and leverage), it’s hard to expect that Gaudreau’s next deal will start with an eight.  It’s going to have to come down and the only question is how much.

The Flames undoubtedly would like to get a deal closer to that of Monahan’s, locking up two key core forwards long-term at reasonable rates.  That may be a bit unrealistic as with offense at a premium, Calgary should have to pay more to get Gaudreau locked up than they did Monahan.

While it’s believed both sides would be happy with a maximum eight year term, perhaps cutting a year or two off that term may help bridge the gap.  Those seasons would be years where he would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency and accordingly, the money in those years would be higher.  If fewer UFA years are bought out, that should bring the asking price down towards a more palatable AAV.

One way or another, something should give sooner than later although Gaudreau’s agent noted to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman late last weekend that no talks had occurred since September 9th.  However, Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun reported that Treliving was expected to speak with Gaudreau and his agent on Wednesday.

Projection: Seven years, $49MM – It’s a compromise on term and money as the Flames pay more than they did for Monahan while still giving Gaudreau one of the richer deals coming off a rookie contract in recent years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

RFA Update: Gaudreau, Trouba, and Kucherov

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News and notes concerning the NHL’s remaining unsigned restricted free agents:

  • Johnny Gaudreau and the Flames are inching toward a deal, says TSN Insider Darren Dreger. Dreger refrained from saying that a deal is imminent, but that he expects an agreement within the week. The latest reports on negotiations from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, however, paints a bleaker picture. Friedman interviewed Gaudreau’s agent Lewis Gross and uncovered that the Flames had not talked to Gaudreau’s camp since September 9th. That was around the time that the Calgary Sun’s Eric Francis reported that Gaudreau was looking for something in the $8MM range while the Flames wanted to keep the contract under $6.75MM. It is important to note that Gaudreau lacks leverage in these negotiations because he is not eligible for an offer sheet.
  • A deal for Jacob Trouba is no closer to happening, says Darren Dreger on TSN 1040 Vancouver. Winnipeg is still looking for a 22-23 year old left shooting defenseman in return, and are not budging from that position. Dreger points to an ideal trade partner in Detroit, but the lack of that type of defenseman has stymied any potential deal. Expect Winnipeg to wait this out just like Tampa Bay did with Jonathan Drouin.
  • TSN’s Bob MacKenzie opined on a Nikita Kucherov offer sheet, stating that of all the unsigned RFAs, Kucherov is the most attractive offer sheet candidate. The Lightning are tight against the cap—both this year and in the future—and may not be able to pay Kucherov market value. MacKenzie gauges Kucherov’s market value at around $6-7MM, but the Lightning only have around $5.5MM in cap space. Even if they move players around to fit a matched contract this year, contracts to impending RFAs Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Tyler Johnson next summer pose serious cap consideration.

Injury Notes: Monahan, Seguin, Kronwall

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When Sean Monahan had to pull out of the World Cup with a back injury, many Flames fans clutched their hearts and hoped for the best. Indeed, with Johnny Gaudreau still without a contract, a Monahan injury could have spelled the end for the Flames before the season even started.

After returning to the ice a few days ago however, Monahan skated without the dreaded no-contact jersey today, according to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet. A full participant in practice, Monahan should be ready for the start of the regular season. With a Gaudreau contract sounding at least a bit closer to a reality, perhaps Flames fans have nothing (or at least less) to worry about.

  • Another World Cup deserter, Tyler Seguin, will ramp up his skating workload today, according to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. Seguin suffered a hairline fracture in his foot just before the tournament began, but has never been expected to miss the start of the regular season. Lindy Ruff stands by that, telling Heika that he assumes Seguin will be ready for opening night.
  • Niklas Kronwall, one of the injured Red Wings was on the ice for the first time today during his rehab of a knee injury. While Kronwall isn’t expected to take part in any preseason games, Ansar Khan of MLive reports that head coach Jeff Blashill thinks he has a chance at opening night in Tampa Bay next Thursday. Tomas Tatar, Frans Nielsen and Thomas Vanek all re-joined in practice today as well, the trio coming off the silver medal winning Team Europe.

Snapshots: RFA Updates, Oilers Injuries, Boyle

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Good news, Calgary Flames fans: Johnny Gaudreau isn’t interested in a trade to solve his contract impasse.

The star forward’s agent, Lewis Gross told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that they are not interested in taking the Jacob Trouba route. When asked if there’s a point where that could change, Gross reiterated that Gaudreau has “no intention of asking for a trade at this time.”

Friedman appeared on Sportsnet 960 in Calgary on Monday morning, and said while “at this time” may feel like a red flag, he “really felt” that Gaudreau has no desire to leave Calgary.

It’s not clear what both sides are looking for on a long-term deal, with the Flames likely wanting the contract to start with a six and Gaudreau wanting it to start with a seven or eight. However, Friedman believes “both sides move and this gets done.”

Friedman pointed to another high-profile RFA winger, Nikita Kucherov, as having no interest in being traded from Tampa Bay. However, the Lightning will likely have to make a trade to accommodate Kucherov’s demands.

Meanwhile, Friedman believes Arizona Coyotes winger Tobias Rieder is close to publicly requesting a trade, like Trouba did late last month. We reported last week that Rieder’s agent thinks a trade would be best for both sides.

In other news from around the hockey world:

  • The Oilers thin blue-line may be a little thinner for the near future, with Brandon Davidson being classified as day-to-day after being hit in the head by Los Angeles Kings’ winger Tanner Pearson. Pearson received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for targeting Davidson’s head. The NHL will likely be taking a look at this one.
  • Edmonton will also be without the services of winger Iiro Pakarinen for at least a month after an ugly leg injury in Sunday night’s game. Pakarinen was battling in the corner with Kings defenseman Matt Greene when it appeared his skate caught a rut in the ice as he fell. The Finnish winger was expected to be a fourth line or extra forward in the NHL. He played 63 games with the Oilers last season, scoring 5 goals and 13 points.
  • With the news of Barret Jackman’s retirement coming on Monday, TSN’s Darren Dreger expects another veteran defenseman in Dan Boyle to announce his retirement sometime this week with the help of the San Jose Sharks.

Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Gostisbehere, Dumoulin

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Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated their respective negotiation processes.

Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency, unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. Today we continue in the Metro.

Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia): Gostisbehere exploded upon the scene in 2015-16, netting 17 goals and 46 points – in just 64 games – to lead all rookies in those categories. The former Union College defenseman quickly became one of the league’s most exciting blue liners and earned a spot on the Team North America entry in the World Cup.

The agents for this year’s top remaining unsigned RFA defenders – Hampus Lindholm and Rasmus Ristolainen – are pointing to the recently-signed and massive extension signed by Aaron Ekblad as the target. Ekblad of course inked an eight-year, $60MM deal with Florida and while Lindholm and Ristolainen are probably not at the level the Panthers blue liner is, they will still likely pocket something in the vicinity of $6MM annually when they finally sign.

Chances are Gostisbehere is also going to use the Ekblad deal as a comparable. Ekblad hasn’t produced offense at the same rate as Gostisbehere (0.72 PPG for “The Ghost” versus 0.47 PPG for Ekblad) but is a former #1 overall pick and projects as a perennial Norris Trophy candidate.

It’s likely the Lindholm and Ristolainen deals will actually serve as a better framework for a new contract for Gostisbehere. Assuming they each get something close to $6MM per, it’s fair to guess the Flyers young blue liner will also land in the same neighborhood.

Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh): Dumoulin tallied just 16 points in 79 contests and failed to net a single goal in 2015-16. Ordinarily those numbers wouldn’t be reflective of a guy who is going to cash in but Dumoulin showed in the postseason he has more to offer the Penguins. In 24 playoff games, Dumoulin scored two goals and eight points while averaging 21:31 of ice time per game. If he can carry over that level of play into the 2016-17 regular season, Dumoulin will surely be rewarded handsomely on his next contract.

A similar comparable could be Dmitry Orlov, who eventually signed a one-year deal with Washington worth $2.57MM. Orlov has clearly been a superior offensive producer, averaging 0.30 PPG during his career while Dumoulin has averaged just 0.19. But at 25, Dumoulin is just entering his prime and as we saw in the playoffs, he is capable of producing more offense in the right role. Currently he is listed opposite Kris Letang on the Penguins top blue line pair which could result in a higher point total for Dumoulin.

Even if Dumoulin doesn’t produce much offensively, there is still plenty of value in a steady and reliable performer on the back end. If both team and player elect for a one or two-year bridge deal, an AAV close to $2.5MM would seem fair. A long-term deal buying out free agent years could take the price up north of $3MM annually.

RFA Notes

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It’s been an unusual off-season in the NHL, with seven high profile Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) remaining a week into training camp. Compared to last off-season, when teams moved quickly to sign or trade players to avoid the threat of offer sheets.

In a series of tweets, TSN’s Bob McKenzie sent out the latest in negotiations from across the league.

Anaheim Ducks – Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell – The Ducks are using Morgan Rielly and Seth Jones as comparable contracts, while Lindholm’s camp is pointing to Aaron Ekblad’s $7.5MM AAV. McKenzie clarifies that Lindholm isn’t asking for $7.5MM, more in the $6MM-plus range. McKenzie hasn’t been able to determine the range of numbers from the Rakell negotiations yet.

Arizona Coyotes – Tobias Rieder – The two sides are less than $500K apart. Rieder is currently looking for two years at $2.5MM per season, while the Coyotes aren’t budging on their offer of two years in the low $2MM range. Rieder does have KHL offers to consider, or McKenzie suggests he could ask for a trade or hold out.

Buffalo Sabres – Rasmus Ristolainen – The Sabres and Ristolainen are in the same situation as the Ducks and Lindholm, according to McKenzie. The two sides are at least $1MM apart, with each side standing firm with their comparables.

Calgary Flames – Johnny Gaudreau – This is likely the most fascinating case, as Gaudreau isn’t technically an RFA because he falls under the 10.2(c) CBA clause. Because Gaudreau hasn’t accrued three years experience, he isn’t eligible for an offer sheet and therefore has basically no power, other than holding out. McKenzie believes the Flames want Gaudreau to sign in the same range as Sean Monahan (six-years, $6.375MM per) and no higher than captain Mark Giordano ($6.75MM per), while Gauderau is looking for more than $8MM per season. The two sides have not negotiated recently, according to McKenzie, who called the situation “bit of a Cold War”.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Nikita Kucherov – If not Gaudreau, then Kucherov is definitely the most complex RFA situation due to the Lightning’s cap issues. While Kucherov has a long list of comparable contracts in the six-year, $36MM range, that’s not possible in the Lightning’s current state. They’ll need to move someone to accommodate another $6MM; McKenzie believes Ben Bishop will be traded sometime this season, but expects he’ll start the season in Tampa.

Winnipeg Jets – Jacob Trouba – There has been plenty of digital ink spilled on Trouba’s trade request, but the only new information from McKenzie was that Trouba is not interested in signing an offer sheet, because the Jets would not be allowed to trade him for a calendar year, should they match. That defeats the purpose of wanting to be traded.

It is still early in the season, but there is a firm deadline coming up: December 1st. Should an RFA not be signed by then, then he will be ineligible to play for the remainder of the season.

This is likely only a consideration for Trouba, with the Jets’ habit of slow-playing trade requests and waiting out poor trade offers.

Calgary Begins Negotiations With Brian Elliott

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After a season-long debacle in net last year, the Calgary Flames have re-built their goaltending situation by bringing in Chad Johnson and Brian Elliott to work between the pipes. Now, they’ve already started work on a long-term solution to the problem with the latter of the two.

According to Andy Strickland of Fox Sports, the team has begun extension negotiations with Elliott on a new deal. The 31-year old has just one season remaining on his current contract, and would become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

After beginning his career in Ottawa, the former ninth-round pick found great success in St. Louis, where he started 164 games with a 2.01 GAA and .925 sv%. Twice he was in the top 10 in Vezina trophy voting, and was a huge part in the Blues recent regular season success.

While the Blues have moved on and locked up Jake Allen long-term, the Flames will try and have Elliott backstop their squad for at least the next few years.  With his success, he should be able to negotiate a substantial raise from the $2.5MM he’ll earn this year.

The Flames have ten other players who will become free agents (of some sort) next summer, making it a turning point for a franchise if they so wish. They also have Johnny Gaudreau to re-sign even now, as the 2016-17 season creeps ever closer.

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