Why Do NHL Teams Keep Employing Brian Elliott?

[Jackets Fan]

Mase is a good dude and a great goalie when on his game.
As crazy as it sounds, since my team is in same division, would have liked to see Steve remain in Philly.
Rejuvenated his career and from what I saw Philly fans loved him.

Love Bob, but always had a soft spot for Mase even though it didn’t work out here.

Mason >>>>>>>>>> other Flyers goalies

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Yep I'll trade Laine for any goalie worth his salt. Maybe hmmmm, Okay changed my mind!

No.

 

[DeflatedFootball7]

They got 3 good seasons out of Mason. Biron was good to a degree. I remember Biron stole that 2008 series against Montreal.

Yeah Mason was good, but his series against Washington was embarrassing. We missed him against the Rangers in 14 though.

Biron/Niittymaki tandem had it's moments, but Biron was inconsistent and getting old, and Nitty's hips were made of rice paper most of his career, aside from that season in Tampa that got him the bloated contract with San Jose. Boucher has his moments, Roussel had his moments in the early 90's etc. Key words being "Had their moments".

The thing about Flyers goaltending is it's not quite "goalie graveyard" bad like Vancouver was before Luongo, more just "Passable" year in year out. The last tandem that was consistent are both now Metro GM's. Let that sink in.

I'm drooling over the idea that we have not one good prospect goalie, but 3 really good one's and two who already have NHL experience. One of them has to work...right??

 

[egelband]

I more wonder why no matter what year it is that the Flyers always seem to have questionable goaltending regardless of how good the team is otherwise. They’ve really not had an elite goalie in my time of watching hockey which goes all the way back to 1994

Pete Peeters was good, I think.

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Pete Peeters was good, I think.

Wasn't Hextall in the 90s or was he in the 80s?

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Elliott is my least favourite Sens goalie of all time. Just mediocre all around

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Elliott is my least favourite Sens goalie of all time. Just mediocre all around

I still like him a lot more than Lehner and Emery. He was a gentleman unlike those two. And Emery's lows were way worse than Elliott's lows. Lehner's lows weren't as bad, but Lehner wasn't a good goalie overall. Can't believe I was so high on Lehner before. To think I wanted Anderson traded early on during the lockout so Lehner and Bishop would play.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

The Flyers love him because hes a "nice guy". They put way to much emphasis on personal character to the point where it over shadows poor on ice performances.

Kinda like how Pittsburgh was with MAF for years....

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Good goalie but Flyers gotta rattle Murray before Pens rattle Elliott

I think Elliott is pretty damn close to rattled now.

Hopefully we break him completely on Wednesday

 

[TorstenFrings]

I am still puzzled by what Calgary was doing with him last season. That franchise has made some idiotic goalie decisions lately and committing to Elliot as a starter might have been the peak of them.
The Flyers though I might kinda understand. He is just a placeholder to them and at least they avoided f***ing themselves by extending Mason. You win some, you lose some.

 

[torniojaws]

I more wonder why no matter what year it is that the Flyers always seem to have questionable goaltending regardless of how good the team is otherwise. They’ve really not had an elite goalie in my time of watching hockey which goes all the way back to 1994

Sergei Bobrovski had quite good stats back in 2010-11.

 

[egelband]

Wasn't Hextall in the 90s or was he in the 80s?

Both. I believe. He was good but volatile. If I remember correctly (I was prett young, ahhh) he was not very consistent. But I’m sure there are people here who can better inform. I remember he had a really stand-up style. Lots of rebounds. Flopped. But was usually effective. And chippy.

 

[HugginThePost]

Both. I believe. He was good but volatile. If I remember correctly (I was prett young, ahhh) he was not very consistent. But I’m sure there are people here who can better inform. I remember he had a really stand-up style. Lots of rebounds. Flopped. But was usually effective. And chippy.

Yup....late 80’s and 90’s.

Chippy isn’t the word I’d use.

Bat shit crazy comes to mind......

........and loved every minute of it.

 

[Mickey Marner]

He fooled many people.
SV% with STL .925
SV% w/o STL .906

Clearly a mediocre goalie whose deficiencies were masked by a strong defense.

 

[RyCam]

I've asked the same thing before OP. I think Elliott is a great 1B/backup goalie, but I would not rely on him at all as a true #1 and I would definitely not start him in the playoffs unless the team needs a shakeup.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

I don’t get it. Elliott is a great 1B goalie but given he’s had one good playoff run over the past decade and 4-5 bad runs I don’t know why any coach would start him in a playoff game.

Yup, if Elliot is your backup you're in decent shape

Asking him to be a starter and a playoff starter? You're gonna have a bad time

 

[Bread and Circuses]

Yup....late 80’s and 90’s.

Chippy isn’t the word I’d use.

Bat **** crazy comes to mind......

.......and loved every minute of it.

Haha this dude would been thrown out of the league today, I miss this kind of stuff.....sometimes.

 

[ponder719]

Why Do NHL Teams Keep Employing Brian Elliott?

Have you seen the rest of our goalies? Neuvirth can't fart without pulling a muscle, Mrazek's a concussion risk every time he's on the ice from the way he flops around, the coaches clearly don't trust Lyon, Stolarz was injured all year, and Dustin Tokarski.

Elliott is genuinely the best goalie we can run out there right now. I cannot wait to turn the reins over to Carter Hart, once he gets his feet wet in the AHL.

 

[innitfam]

The flyers must be going with Mrazek for game 4?

 

[rent free]

Goalies are the cheapest type of players to trade for.

Yah, as unfortunate as that may be.

 

[rent free]

Eh an elite centre sure can't, but he can influence the game strong. A good defender absolutely can. When Anderson was struggling in rounds 1 and 2, Karlsson singlehandedly stole the series.

I think the skaters have to work hand in hand in order to steal games. Goalies don't need anyone's help to steal games.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Probably because NHL teams tend to over value experience at the position. I don't even think he's that bad of a goalie, just a mentally fragile one not on par with the other goalies in the playoffs. He too often crumbles after one goal against, even if it wasn't a savable one. Whiffs on way too many pucks to be truly considered a quality #1 goalie.

The thing is as a whole Elliott's only good goalie fundamental is positioning. He has poor rebound control, poor puck handling, he isn't fast, isn't super smart, isn't the most athletic. He isn't a big guy either. St. Louis system did him wonders allowing him to see relatively slower shots than he's facing without their system and that's helped him tremendously. Even though Allen has terrible positioning and allows a ton of bad goals, it's no coincidence Allen faces significantly lower high danger and quality chances than Elliott just because Allen can control the game back when both played for the Blues. Sure now and then Elliott can make an excellent pass, an excellent acrobatic save, etc. But don't count on it.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Elliott is our starter and deserves to be. Neuvirth is made of glass, and Mrazek? Well inconsistent isn't the right word. More like schizophrenic. Elliott is another band-aid in a long line of band-aids, and hopefully a bridge to Carter Hart.

 

[Goodbahd]

It is the Flyers destiny to be perpetually bad at goaltending.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Since 1992(end of Hextall's first stint)