BRIAN ELLIOTT - Goalie - 34 - $2.00MM Cap Hit - UFA in 2020-2021
LAST UPDATED 8/20/19
Despite being a former Jennings winner and a top-5 Vezina finalist, Brian Elliott has never quite been able to cement himself as a team's franchise goalie. The talent has never been the issue, as Elliott is a very polished goaltender with good size and athleticism. He gets after pucks well and typically isn't one to panic. So why hasn't his ability to produce elite numbers in a smaller role carried him to a starting job? I think much of it has to do with the mental side of the game. 10% of playing goalie is physical ability and the rest of the position is mental. Now, I don't know what's going on in Elliott's head, so what I'm saying is purely speculative. If you look at the body of work Eliott has presented, there's typically a connection between how much pressure he's facing and how he performs. Take his lone season in Calgary for example. The Flames were down and out as the season reached its halfway mark, and then Elliott promptly stood on his head for pretty much the rest of the season and led the team to the playoffs. The team wasn't expected to make the playoffs, and most fans at that time had resigned themselves to the fact that the season was just another lost one. So Elliott, playing in games where losing them wouldn't mean the death of a season, thrived. But then, once he got to the playoffs, he cracked, and the Flames were quickly dispatched by the Ducks. This sort of thing is common throughout Elliott's career, and he has always struggled to be "the guy." Despite his age, I think that the talent is still there and if he can stay healthy he can be a valuable veteran backup/mentor, like Ryan Miller. But he'll need to be able to stay healthy and stay away from a team looking for more if he wants to be a true 1B.
Despite being a former Jennings winner and a top-5 Vezina finalist, Brian Elliott has never quite been able to cement himself as a team's franchise goalie. The talent has never been the issue, as Elliott is a very polished goaltender with good size and athleticism. He gets after pucks well and typically isn't one to panic. So why hasn't his ability to produce elite numbers in a smaller role carried him to a starting job? I think much of it has to do with the mental side of the game. 10% of playing goalie is physical ability and the rest of the position is mental. Now, I don't know what's going on in Elliott's head, so what I'm saying is purely speculative. If you look at the body of work Eliott has presented, there's typically a connection between how much pressure he's facing and how he performs. Take his lone season in Calgary for example. The Flames were down and out as the season reached its halfway mark, and then Elliott promptly stood on his head for pretty much the rest of the season and led the team to the playoffs. The team wasn't expected to make the playoffs, and most fans at that time had resigned themselves to the fact that the season was just another lost one. So Elliott, playing in games where losing them wouldn't mean the death of a season, thrived. But then, once he got to the playoffs, he cracked, and the Flames were quickly dispatched by the Ducks. This sort of thing is common throughout Elliott's career, and he has always struggled to be "the guy." Despite his age, I think that the talent is still there and if he can stay healthy he can be a valuable veteran backup/mentor, like Ryan Miller. But he'll need to be able to stay healthy and stay away from a team looking for more if he wants to be a true 1B.
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