After months of wondering how the Flames would fill their two biggest organizational needs, Brad Treliving addressed both within 15 minutes on Friday.
The first was a fortuitous snagging of London Knights power left winger Matthew Tkachuk sixth overall, helping the Flames shore up the need for more skill and size up front.
The second was the acquisition of Brian Elliott from the St. Louis Blues, who traded Calgary the 31-year-old goaltender for the Flames 35th pick this year and a conditional third-rounder in 2018 if the Flames can sign him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.
His cap hit of $2.5 million this year gives the Flames tremendous flexibility this year and represent one of the best deals in the league for a starter given he led the NHL with a .930 save percentage last year.
Yes, Elliott will command in excess of $5 or $6 million next year and beyond, but by then the Flames will know more about the progress of their AHL stud Jon Gillies, who is coming off season-ending hip surgery.
The back-to-back announcements from the draft floor in Buffalo will no doubt allow Treliving, his staff and countless Flames fans to sleep better.
After all, nothing mattered more than acquiring a top, proven goalie, which is certainly what Elliott is.
A source says Elliott pressured Blues GM Doug Armstrong to trade him given the organization’s clear goal to use young Jake Allen the last two years and into the future.
Despite Elliott’s 23-8-6 record and 2.07 GAA the Blues continually used Allen whenever Elliott faltered, opening the door for a move to Calgary where Elliott will be handed the starting gig and a chance to rack up even more impressive numbers in preparation for a shot at a major payday as a UFA.
The Flames had spent plenty of time talking to Pittsburgh about Marc-Andre Fleury, Tampa about Ben Bishop and Detroit about Jimmy Howard, knowing full well they could always take a stab at UFA James Reimer next week if needed.
The price for Elliott was nominal for the Flames who had two extra second rounders anyway. It’s a far cry from Pittsburgh’s ask of the Flames sixth-pick overall for Fleury.
As relieved and excited as Treliving was to get Elliott he had to be pinching himself over the good fortune of seeing Tkachuk available at no. 6.
After all, he was the consensus fourth pick overall after starring at the Memorial Cup in Red Deer where he scored the overtime winner to clinch the national crown. The big, bruising winger has plenty of the tools his father Keith had when he starred as one of the NHL’s premier power forwards from 1991 to 2010.
Treliving insisted he’d draft the best player available, even if it didn’t address the top organizational need amongst skaters, which was skilled forwards.
He did both.
“He’s got skill and ability and he does a lot of things to help you win,” said Treliving, who saw Tkachuk star on London’s top line with Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak at the Memorial Cup despite playing with an injured ankle.
“People don’t realize how smart he is – his ability to play with top players is not easy to do. You’ve got to be able to think at their level and he can.”
Ultimately, he’ll be given every chance to skate on the top line in Calgary alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.
Flames longtime director of scouting, Tod Button, described the 6-foot-1, 195-pound winger from Scottsdale as “a skilled guy who is tenacious, nasty, mean and he’s big.
Tkachuk, 18, had 30 goals and 107 points as a rookie with London, followed by 20 goals and 40 points in 18 playoff games.
“The biggest thing you can say is he plays in the hard areas and he plays with skill. He’s hard to knock off the puck. He was a great compliment to skilled players in London.”
And the belief is he’ll do the same in Calgary.
During it’s draft coverage NBC Sports went one further, throwing up a graphic comparing Tkachuk to New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, prompting Gronk to tweet:
Addressing the two biggest organizational needs in one night, the Flames finished the first round of the draft as one of the biggest winners.
Things couldn’t possibly have gone any better.