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Curtis McElhinney

#35 · Goalie · Tampa Bay Lightning

Born May 23, 1983 in London, Ontario, CAN · 6'1", 210 lb · Catches left · Drafted 176th overall in 2002 by CGY (round 6)

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Compare with a similar player

The goalies closest to him in games played in 2019-20. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Laurent Brossoit WPG · 19 GP, 0.895 Louis Domingue VAN · 17 GP, 0.882 Anders Nilsson OTT · 20 GP, 0.908 Michael Hutchinson COL · 16 GP, 0.888 Malcolm Subban CHI · 21 GP, 0.890

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

01020302007-08: 5 games507-082008-09: 14 games1408-092009-10: 20 games2009-102010-11: 28 games2810-112011-12: 2 games211-122013-14: 28 games2813-142014-15: 32 games3214-152015-16: 18 games1815-162016-17: 21 games2116-172017-18: 18 games1817-182018-19: 33 games3318-192019-20: 18 games1819-202020-21: 12 games1220-21

Games played by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save % Cap hit
2007-08 CGY 5 0200 51 46 5 2.00 0.902 $605K
2008-09 CGY 14 1610 280 249 31 3.59 0.889 $500K
2009-10 CGY 10 3400 235 208 27 3.22 0.885 $535K
2009-10 ANA 10 5120 288 264 24 2.76 0.917
2010-11 ANA 21 6912 516 459 57 3.43 0.890 $535K
2010-11 OTT 7 3400 205 188 17 2.56 0.917
2011-12 PHX 2 1000 36 34 2 1.67 0.944 $625K
2013-14 CBJ 28 101112 703 639 64 2.70 0.909 $600K
2014-15 CBJ 32 121420 949 867 82 2.88 0.914 $600K
2015-16 CBJ 18 2730 417 371 46 3.30 0.890 $800K
2016-17 CBJ 7 2120 198 183 15 2.39 0.924 $800K
2016-17 TOR 14 6701 418 382 36 2.85 0.914
2017-18 TOR 18 11513 528 493 35 2.14 0.934 $850K
2018-19 CAR 33 201122 968 883 85 2.58 0.912 $850K
2019-20 TBL 18 8731 551 499 52 2.89 0.906 $1.3M
2020-21 TBL 12 4621 296 259 37 3.09 0.875 $1.3M
13 seasons Career 249 94952012 6639 6024 615 2.83 0.907

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
2008-09 CGY 1 0000 10 9 1 1.78 0.900
2017-18 TOR 1 0100 23 19 4 5.07 0.826
2018-19 CAR 5 3200 128 119 9 2.01 0.930
3 seasons Playoffs 7 3300 161 147 14 2.40 0.913

2019-20 season totals

GP Starts WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
18 18 8731 551 499 52 2.89 0.906

Contract

$1.3MCap hitends in 2021, then UFA
$267KCap dollars per goal above replacement4.9 goals above replacement

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2020-21, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2019-20 $1.3M
2020-21 $1.3M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2019-20 to 2020-21 $1.3M
2017-18 to 2018-19 $850K
2015-16 to 2016-17 $800K
2014-15 to 2014-15 $600K
2013-14 to 2013-14 $600K
2011-12 to 2011-12 $625K
2009-10 to 2010-11 $535K
2008-09 to 2008-09 $500K
2007-08 to 2007-08 $605K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2019-20 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2019-20 analytics

Rating

+4.9Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.8Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.4Goals above averagehis goals saved above expected

The goals he saved for his team, compared with a spare-part goalie facing the same shots. A goalie's season is about one-third the goalie and two-thirds chance, so read one year lightly. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-10010202010-112013-142015-162017-182019-20Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

Shots faced

Expected goals adds up how likely each shot he faced was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. A goalie who lets in fewer than that has saved goals above expected. Only shots taken while he was in net count, and the league's goalies as a whole come out at zero. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones. What these numbers mean

-0.4Goals saved above expectedexpected goals minus goals against
51.6Expected goals againstfrom 764 unblocked attempts
52Goals againstwhile he was in net
0.906Save %0.906 expected from his shots

Goals saved above expected, taken per 60 minutes, and save % are coloured by where they rank among the 59 goalies who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. The two goals against tiles are left plain, since they follow how much he played.

Goals saved -0.02 above expected per 60 minutes42nd
Shot difficulty 6.8% chance per attempt faced68thA higher bar means his team gives up more dangerous shots.

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 59 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest this season.

02040Game 10Allowed 52Expected 51.6

The goals he was expected to let in and the goals he did, as the season went on. When the allowed line runs below the expected line, he is saving more than his shots were worth.

Where he was shot at

Every unblocked attempt he faced this season, with his net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result Decision Shots against Saves Goals against Save % TOI
Mar 8, 2020 @ DET L 4-5 (SO) OTL 28 24 4 0.857 64:54
Feb 27, 2020 vs CHI L 2-5 L 26 22 4 0.846 58:40
Feb 17, 2020 @ COL W 4-3 (OT) W 27 24 3 0.889 63:03
Feb 10, 2020 @ CBJ W 2-1 (OT) W 32 31 1 0.969 60:31
Feb 1, 2020 @ SJS W 3-0 W, SO 30 30 0 1.000 59:43
Jan 16, 2020 @ MIN L 2-3 L 23 20 3 0.870 58:38
Jan 12, 2020 @ NJD L 1-3 L 19 17 2 0.895 57:45
Jan 4, 2020 @ OTT W 5-3 W 28 25 3 0.893 60:00
Dec 29, 2019 vs DET W 2-1 W 20 19 1 0.950 59:18
Dec 21, 2019 @ WSH L 1-3 L 34 32 2 0.941 57:17
Dec 9, 2019 vs NYI L 1-5 L 24 19 5 0.792 60:00
Nov 30, 2019 vs CAR L 2-3 L 24 21 3 0.875 57:37
Nov 21, 2019 @ CHI W 4-2 W 34 32 2 0.941 60:00
Nov 9, 2019 vs BUF W 5-3 W 43 40 3 0.930 60:00
Oct 30, 2019 @ NJD W 7-6 (OT) W 42 36 6 0.857 61:16
Oct 26, 2019 vs NSH L 2-3 (OT) OTL 40 37 3 0.925 62:41
Oct 12, 2019 @ OTT L 2-4 L 33 30 3 0.909 57:40
Oct 6, 2019 @ CAR L 3-4 (OT) OTL 44 40 4 0.909 61:53