I think people will be surprised this year at how good Mike Smith can be. Bad teams can make goaltenders look bad. Elliott was just an average goaltender on a good team and I don't remember him stealing very many games for us this year whereas Mike Smith stole a lot of games for the Coyotes. Just look at how many 40+ shot games we won for them this season.
His numbers are still better than Elliott's despite playing on a much inferior defensive team and I think playing on a better team next year will help him regain the Team Canada form that he was a few years back. Mike Stone had a great impact on our team when he was acquired so I'm willing to wait and see how Smith does before judging him.
As for the acquisition cost. It was pretty good. Hickey probably was going to sign with us anyway, Chas Johnson was a ufa and at least we didn't give up a 1st.
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