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Trade: Flames get their goalie, acquire Elliott from Blues

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Calgary fans can breathe a sigh of relief. The St. Louis Blues traded goaltender Brian Elliott to the Calgary Flames for a second round pick and conditional third round pick in 2018.

BUFFALO -- Calgary GM Brad Treliving made it clear he wanted to sort out his goalie situation this weekend.

And on Friday, he did exactly that.

Treliving picked up veteran goalie Brian Elliott from St. Louis on the opening night of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, in exchange for a second round pick (No. 35) at this year’s draft, and a conditional third-rounder in ’18 (contingent upon Elliott re-signing in Calgary).

Elliott, 31, comes to the Flames heading into the last of his three-year, $7.5 million deal, one that carries a $2.5M average annual cap hit. He’s a good, veteran presence that played very well for St. Louis last year, winning 23 games while posting a .930 save percentage and 2.07 GAA.

Elliott also (mostly) backstopped the Blues to the Western Conference Final, where they were eventually eliminated by the Sharks.

The “mostly” bit in that last sentence is important because, like in previous playoffs, Jake Allen cut into Elliott’s playing time. The two have battled back and forth for the No. 1 gig in St. Louis for some time, and now it finally appears to be Allen’s net.

As for Calgary, this move all but confirms the club’s desire to get a placeholder-type goalie, rather than a longer-term solution. The Flames do have two good young goalie prospects in Jon Gilles and Mason McDonald, but neither project to be in the NHL soon.

Elliott will -- presumably -- be the Flames’ go-to guy next season, and is a pretty inexpensive solution for Treliving and company.