How much will Elliott play in 13/14 ?

[ICEJESTER]

He finished very strong during the second half of last season, (remniscent of 11/12 #'s), but it seems like the Blues favor Halak regardless of his propensity for injury or how well Brian plays. It does seem that Jaro has come to camp in better shape and motivated and a normally sedate Hitchcock has talked up his appreciation of that. The question is does Elliott start in 35-40 games this year ? If he does his GAA will help me more than his overall record would hurt me based on his 40 games should still add up to 25+ wins on a strong Blues club, still as good as 1/3 to 1/2 of the leagues starters. However if he is delegated to 20 games he'll be a waste of a roster spot. I'm in a very deep keeper league. There's always a chance with how Allen showed last season that they may deal Halak a couple months in since he seems to have better market value but the goalie market is in a downturn this year and they may like the security blanket of keeping the two vets and letting Allen get some seasoning in the minors. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

[Pengwin7]

I think THIS (the STL goaltending situation) is the greatest unknown of this NHL fantasy season.

The Halak/Eller trade was STL GM's Armstrong's first BIG move.
So, there is reputation move at stake for Armstrong to get good production out of Halak.

But long-term, it just seems like they want to go Elliott/Allen, that's the vibe I get.
So they may be looking to "display" Halak and then trade him... to... Philadelphia?

Who knows.

There is no greater crapshoot among 2013-2014 fantasy goalies than the STL situation.
I could honestly see either Halak or Elliott emerge as the 55-game #1 goalie as soon as end of October!!!

[ICEJESTER]

I just have the feeling that with Halak in his best shape career wise and in a contract year that the Blue's may ride him as a showcase to other teams and try to spin that into something else of value for themselves. Not unlike the tender setting in Pho it doesn't really matter who Stl puts in the paint they're likely to succeed in the reg season stas wise anyways. The Isles may be in the bidding if they have a slow start and Nabby starts showing his age, I don't believe that Poulin is the answer. I've never heard any reports out of Stl that would indicate Halak/Elliott don't get along and affecting team chemistry so the threat of them staying staus quo and riding the hot goalie will probably be the outcome much to my dismay. I see it as a 70/30 split favoring Halak but I'm hoping someone else has contrary info that disputes this.

[Yardie]

While the showcase Halak scenario sounds reasonable I wonder what he'd fetch in return that'd make a trade worth while for an STL team that wants to win now. Plus, he still makes $4.5 this year which few teams can absorb.

I feel that Hitch will roll both goalies just like he spreads out TOI and PPTOI. Halak is oft injured and it keeps both fresh for the playoffs.

My internet connection was lost during my draft and Yahoo autopicked Elliot, forcing me to grab Halak later on. Not the worst autopick in the world but my D certainly would've been better had this not happened.

And don't forget that Halak and Elliot had awesome seasons two years ago. They may not repeat that but it gives me some solace as I'm stuck with both.

[Axeman33]

As a Halak owner in a couple of my leagues (including the money league in my sig), I hope Eliott gets splinters from sitting on the bench all season and Halak rides the happy wave the whole way through!

[AwesomeSince86]

If you can manage to get both Elliot/Halak in your league then you're in for a strong season in the goalie department. While I don't think either are top 10 goalies because of the timeshare, STL will be VERY, VERY good this season...especially defensively and this will be reflected in Elliot/Halaks numbers. Halak will likely get injured for a decent amount of games and that, in addition to the timeshare, makes Elliot worth owning. Expect both goalies to post great numbers in GAA, SV%, and SO.