WC Second Round Preview Podcast

Chase, Triumph and I were joined by podcast regular Corey (@ShutdownLine) from Shut Down Line for a breakdown of the Western Conference first-round series and previews of Nashville - Phoenix and Los Angeles - St. Louis.



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Playoff Preview Podcasts: Blues - Sharks

The latest and classiest edition of the Driving Play Playoff Podcast features a discussion of the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks series out West. This installment features commentary from Jared (@jaredlunsford), Corey (@ShutdownLine), Triumph (@Triumph44) and myself (@chasew12).

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Was the Brian Elliott Extension a Good Idea?

Earlier today, the Blues decided to re-sign goaltender Brian Elliott to a 2-year extension worth $3.6 million in the midst of his first All-Star campaign. On the surface, this doesn't seem like a terrible move for St. Louis. After all, should Elliott keep form through the end of the season, another team would probably have to pay more than $3.6 million for his services. The biggest problem with this, however, is that Elliott's current form differs quite a bit from what we've seen over his career (numbers via NHL.com):

Season	Team	GP	ES SA	ES GA	ES SV%
2007-2008	OTT	1	22	1	0.955
2008-2009	OTT	31	628	50	0.920
2009-2010	OTT	55	1089	101	0.907
2010-2011	OTT/COL	55	1237	124	0.900
2011-2012	STL	22	459	25	0.946
Career	3 Teams	164	3435	301	0.912

We've seen teams give out similar contracts based on similar samples, contracts which don't always turn out so well in the department of expected performance (See: Leighton, Michael). At the end of the day, however, a $1.8 million cap hit isn't going to handcuff a team beyond repair. If Elliott turns out to be at least average or a little better, St. Louis will have him locked in at a very good price. If a 22 game sample indeed regresses back to his career averages, the modest average annual value will make this an easy contract to trade or demote, a win-win for the Blues.