Robin Lehner: the man, the myth

[Randall Flagg]

I voted "least of our problems."

 

I see him as a pretty solid NHL starter right now and still with substantial upside. 

 

It's his 1st full season as a starter, and he plays with the pressure of pretty much knowing that his team isn't going to score until the 2nd period is mostly over.

 

I kinda feel like the shootout thing will self-correct over time, although I also think it's in his head now and might not improve for a while.

 

They just have quite a few more pressing issues.

Wasn't Enroth pretty bad at these earlier in his career? And didn't he leave the Sabres on something like a 21 save streak in the shootout? Robin has to put the work in, but I don't believe this will continue to be the problem it has been. 

 

 

[TrueBlueGED]

I was going to ask, because your numbers didn't seem to match the link I posted.

Is that because the Sabres allow a sick number of chances while short-handed? Because their PK is so lousy you'd think Lehner would look better at even strength, not worse.

Without looking deeper at the PK numbers, that'd be my guess. But it could also just be happenstance since PK goaltending numbers are insanely variable from year to year, to say nothing of luck in a 30 game sample.

[dudacek]

Better off with a pick and a random free agent seems to be the leading choice.

I'd like to hear the thought process given the stats of every free agent goalie save the Chad.

 

How many of the "on-the-market" goalies listed in the opening post would you rather have than Lehner?

 

Why are Lehner's numbers as good or better than all of them, as well as "good" goalies like Bishop, Lundquist, Schneider, Luongo, Allen, Vasilevsky, Gibson, and Rinne?

Edited January 3, 2017 by dudacek

[Drunkard]

Lehner is an average goaltender who happens to also be the worst shootout goalie in the league at this moment. Very few goalies are difference makers but with the way the league is, even average goalies can put up pretty good numbers and he's good enough to help us win (sans shootouts) if the team knew how to score at even strength.

 

The 1st round pick is overblown. Yes, we could've picked up another average goalie in Free Agency but Murray wanted a young but also experienced goalie with size that was cost controlled and it's hard to check that many boxes without ponying up some value.

[Guest]

Dude, I voted for overpaid, but his play has been fine. However there is ample evidence over both seasons that we'd be better off with the draft pick and using Johnson and Nilsson instead. We acquired Nilsson for a 5th in 2017 and Johnson with a 3rd rd pick for Neuvirth. As pointed out in other threads, with the 21st pick we could have taken center Colin White, who looks like a future star forward, or to; D prospects Jacob Larsson or Noah Juulsen. Larsson has already appeared in the NHL and considering our desperate need for defenders this might have been the better route. How much brighter would our future look if both Guhle and Larsson were coming next season?

 

2015-16

1) Johnson - 45g 22-16-4 2.36 .920

2) Lehner - 21g 5-9-3 2.47 .924

3) Ullmark - 20g 8-10-2 2.60 .913

 

2016-17

1) Lehner - 51g 19-22-8 2.64 .921

2) Nilsson - 24g 10-9-4 2.75 .920

Edited March 18, 2017 by yse325

[OhMyDahlin]

Might as well trade the guy. He keeps the Sabres in 95% of the games he plays, and they give him no support. Fans hate him because of the price the GM paid to get him, therefore he never stood a chance here.

I'd love to see him go elsewhere to be a #1, put him on a good team and he would be an elite goalie.

Out of the goalies who have faced 1,000 shots, Lehner (.921) ranks tied for 6th in SV% with Gibson (.921), behind Dubnyk (.930), Bobrovsky (.930), Holtby (.926), Murray (.923) and Price (.922), and all of them are on much better teams. He's by far the least of the Sabres problems, and in his first year as a starting goaltender he's improved as the season has gone on...and the more he plays, the better he is.

Edited March 18, 2017 by Dank Dangleson

[Radar]

Might as well trade the guy. He keeps the Sabres in 95% of the games he plays, and they give him no support. Fans hate him because of the price the GM paid to get him, therefore he never stood a chance here.

I'd love to see him go elsewhere to be a #1, put him on a good team and he would be an elite goalie.

Out of the goalies who have faced 1,000 shots, Lehner (.921) ranks tied for 6th in SV% with Gibson (.921), behind Dubnyk (.930), Bobrovsky (.930), Holtby (.926), Murray (.923) and Price (.922), and all of them are on much better teams. He's by far the least of the Sabres problems, and in his first year as a starting goaltender he's improved as the season has gone on...and the more he plays, the better he is.

I agree. Aside from a few games, and all goalies have them, he's been pretty solid. Obviously he's been bad in shootouts, but in many off those games it wouldn't have gotten to a shootout without him. Also agree he's the least of our problems defensively anyway.

[sabresouth]

Yes Lehner's SV% is good. And yes he needs better help from his defense. But he spits out more rebounds than the games at chucky cheese spit out tickets. If he would freeze the Puck at more opportune times or send some of the rebounds in better places, he would face less shots. If he faced ten less shots per game he could probably save a half a goal per game. Yes his shootouts are terrible to. And during the games he has a hard time stoping breakaway's as well. So I just don't think when it comes time to contend for the cup he's what we will need.

[JJFIVEOH]

Yes Lehner's SV% is good. And yes he needs better help from his defense. But he spits out more rebounds than the games at chucky cheese spit out tickets. If he would freeze the Puck at more opportune times or send some of the rebounds in better places, he would face less shots. If he faced ten less shots per game he could probably save a half a goal per game. Yes his shootouts are terrible to. And during the games he has a hard time stoping breakaway's as well. So I just don't think when it comes time to contend for the cup he's what we will need.

 

I highly doubt he faces 10 more shots because of his rebounds, in fact it's been mentioned he kicks out rebounds in attempts to get the puck out of the zone. Or at least out of the crease. He averages 33.7 shots per 60 minutes compared to Nilsson's 34.2. 

[PromoTheRobot]

I called him a dud and his non-shootout play improved dramatically. So I'm hoping that may come around eventually.

[I-90 W]

Yes Lehner's SV% is good. And yes he needs better help from his defense. But he spits out more rebounds than the games at chucky cheese spit out tickets. If he would freeze the Puck at more opportune times or send some of the rebounds in better places, he would face less shots. If he faced ten less shots per game he could probably save a half a goal per game. Yes his shootouts are terrible to. And during the games he has a hard time stoping breakaway's as well. So I just don't think when it comes time to contend for the cup he's what we will need.

I wouldn't blame our league- leading shots allowed on Lehner rebounds. The shootout, IMO, doesn't belong in the NHL it's a skills competition and not hockey. I like Lehner, don't like our defense.

[Eleven]

Dudacek:  dead on with "going rate," as I've been saying since the day of the trade.

 

I'm not sure that Lehner will turn into a great starter, but I am sure that he's the least of the team's problems right now.

[MattPie]

Dudacek:  dead on with "going rate," as I've been saying since the day of the trade.

 

I'm not sure that Lehner will turn into a great starter, but I am sure that he's the least of the team's problems right now.

 

Agreed. Based on his habit of moving around and challenging, I'm worried that he thinks he's a much more athletic goalie than he actually is and that's going to get him into trouble when teams get a book on him.

 

Also 11, you have a microwave in your bathroom? That's odd.

[North Buffalo]

Arrrgh!

[darksabre]

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