Lehner: Mediocre or the Goalie of the Future?

[Nitro60]

Lehner definitely makes mistakes. But his defenseman refuse to ever touch an opponent or move anyone out of the crease. I’d hate to be a goaltender behind this sorry team.

Weak play in front by the defensemen all season.

[dudacek]

The fact is that we have a tradition here in Buffalo of strong goaltending. Lehner just does not live up to what we've come to expect.

I don't expect another Hasek who single-handedly carries us to the playoffs, but we at least need a goaltender who steals a few games for us. We have the opposite.

Robin Lehner’s save percentages in his last 10 starts: 946, 941, 933, 923, 926, 968, 943, 912, 921, 929.

[JohnRobertEichel]

Robin Lehner’s save percentages in his last 10 starts: 946, 941, 933, 923, 926, 968, 943, 912, 921, 929.

 

Good. Hopefully Lehner's recent play during regulation will be enough to steal a late first rounder from a desperate playoff team in late February. Lehner is a headcase and a choke artist, and I hope I never have to see him in a Sabres uniform again beyond February 26. 

Edited January 1, 2018 by FuhrUrsinne

[erickompositör72]

It's about the goals he allows, everyone. NHL goaltenders won't allow goals that he does.

 

Lundqvist gobbles up every rebound. If Lehner could do that, overtime goal wouldn't have happened.

 

Lundqvist wouldn't have allowed the first goal, either.

 

No NHL goaltender would have allowed the 2nd goal.

 

The only way we'll receive anything in return for Lehner is if a team is desperate for a goalie and has goaltending scouts

[7+6=13]

I agree this game isn't Lehner's to own but there is just something about his game that's not right for me.  I can't exactly identify it.  

 

I like his numbers,  I like that he can/often does make the amazing save.   I think the defensive philosophy, players in front of him and effort is quite embarrassing.  Yet there's something beyond that - that won't let me like Lehner.  

 

Maybe the easy answer is he lets in too many goals that I consider should be saved.  

[TheAud]

It's about the goals he allows, everyone. NHL goaltenders won't allow goals that he does.

 

Lundqvist gobbles up every rebound. If Lehner could do that, overtime goal wouldn't have happened.

 

Lundqvist wouldn't have allowed the first goal, either.

 

No NHL goaltender would have allowed the 2nd goal.

 

The only way we'll receive anything in return for Lehner is if a team is desperate for a goalie and has ###### goaltending scouts

 

Sorry, this is a borderline delusional take on it, 

It's about the goals he allows, everyone. NHL goaltenders won't allow goals that he does.

 

Lundqvist gobbles up every rebound. If Lehner could do that, overtime goal wouldn't have happened.

 

Lundqvist wouldn't have allowed the first goal, either.

 

No NHL goaltender would have allowed the 2nd goal.

 

The only way we'll receive anything in return for Lehner is if a team is desperate for a goalie and has ###### goaltending scouts

 

Have you seen Chad Johnson play?

[erickompositör72]

Have you seen Chad Johnson play?

 

I'm going to ignore this, to save you the embarrassment of having just compared a goaltender to Chad Johnson to defend them.

[dudacek]

It's about the goals he allows, everyone. NHL goaltenders won't allow goals that he does.

Lundqvist gobbles up every rebound. If Lehner could do that, overtime goal wouldn't have happened.

Lundqvist wouldn't have allowed the first goal, either.

No NHL goaltender would have allowed the 2nd goal.

The only way we'll receive anything in return for Lehner is if a team is desperate for a goalie and has ###### goaltending scouts

NHL goalies allow the types of goals Lehner allowed tonight all the time.

If Lundqvist had gobbled up the rebound, Reinhart wouldn’t have scored.

Lundqvist just stood there as Risto floated in a wrister from the blueline.

 

Losing tends to colour people’s perception, and Lehner has definitely been guilty of those things he’s been criticized for.

Not tonight, however, and not over the past month.

 

Remember at the start of the season when people thought he and Chad Johnson were at the same level?

Edited January 1, 2018 by Mick O’Manly

[erickompositör72]

Remember at the start of the season when people thought he and Chad Johnson were at the same level?

 

Once again, this is a straw-man argument. Lehner doing some things better than a career NHL back-up is not something a starter should brag about.

 

EDIT: Just to indulge the Chad Johnson comparisons, I don't think he'd have allowed the first 2 goals. He may not have made some other saves, but the point is- Lehner allows goals that should not be allowed by a starting NHL goaltender.

 

EDIT 2: Furthermore, when people say, "come on, he made 39 saves! What do you want?" I want 40 saves and a win. Remember even when we had Neuvirth? He'd have made the 40th save.

Edited January 1, 2018 by erickompositör72

[WildCard]

I'm going to ignore this, to save you the embarrassment of having just compared a goaltender to Chad Johnson to defend them.

:lol:

[SabresBillsFan]

lol poor Lehner. Literally every loss is blamed on him. He made like 5 amazing game-saving stops and its not enough. How about we outshoot an opponent for once? Or limit them to 25 rather than 45 shots?

Besides shootouts lehner isn’t the problem in Buffalo.

[WildCard]

Besides shootouts lehner isn’t the problem in Buffalo.

Still has a loser mentality. Dude's a mental midget. Would've been traded by the Bills in a second

[dudacek]

Once again, this is a straw-man argument. Lehner doing some things better than a career NHL back-up is not something a starter should brag about.

 

EDIT: Just to indulge the Chad Johnson comparisons, I don't think he'd have allowed the first 2 goals. He may not have made some other saves, but the point is- Lehner allows goals that should not be allowed by a starting NHL goaltender.

 

EDIT 2: Furthermore, when people say, "come on, he made 39 saves! What do you want?" I want 40 saves and a win. Remember even when we had Neuvirth? He'd have made the 40th save.

Michal Neuvirth? The guy who won six of his 28 Buffalo decisions is your example?

[Weave]

Michal Neuvirth? The guy who won six of his 28 Buffalo decisions is your example?

 

You didn't ignore this to save the embarrassment?

 

No dog in this hunt, but it had to be done.

[Stoner]

How much energy do we put into Lehner talk? Is there a scenario where he returns? Why would he want to? Why would Botterill want him to?

[erickompositör72]

Michal Neuvirth? The guy who won six of his 28 Buffalo decisions is your example?

 

You pick the "win/loss" stat for the full-tank Sabres?

 

You didn't ignore this to save the embarrassment?

 

No dog in this hunt, but it had to be done.

 

see above

 

EDIT: when girgs was our top-line center

Edited January 1, 2018 by erickompositör72

[Scottysabres]

lol poor Lehner. Literally every loss is blamed on him. He made like 5 amazing game-saving stops and its not enough. How about we outshoot an opponent for once? Or limit them to 25 rather than 45 shots?

Poor Leher my ass. The guy can't perform in clutch situations, be it 45 or 25 shots.

It is what it is man, he's no good in 3 on 3/ 3 on 4 situations and shootouts.

Stop defending him, s5art seeing the larger picture.

[erickompositör72]

If he continues to play the way he has the past month, what would you do with him?

 

Trade him for whatever we can get. Hopefully it's the return a solid back-up would get. NHL scouts won't let a GM (not named Murray) give up more.

 

We can't hold on to him, even if he would make a solid back-up. Let him be another team's arbitration nightmare.

[Stoner]

If he continues to play the way he has the past month, what would you do with him?

Trade him at the deadline for whatever. I don't really care how well he's been playing. It happens in contract years. The remarks about Toronto and video reviews should be the last straw.

 

In any event, like with Evander, I don't see any scenario where he'd want to come back.

[spndnchz]

Trade him at the deadline for whatever. I don't really care how well he's been playing. It happens in contract years. The remarks about Toronto and video reviews should be the last straw.

 

In any event, like with Evander, I don't see any scenario where he'd want to come back.

No

[Stoner]

No

No? You wouldn't trade him? Or you do see a scenario where one or both would want to return?

[Weave]

I think Lehner is a victim of Tyrod Taylor syndrome - good enough to win with under the right circumstances, but not good enough to be a saviour, or to win over the fans because of the stink of the losing that came before.

 

If he continues to play the way he has the past month, what would you do with him?

 

  

 

I think this is representative of most of the fan base. Objectively, we are better than we were in October, but that’s not good enough. Just start winning already.

 

 

I think that in a nutshell is the hate against this team.

 

IMO the Lehner angst is the exact same angst as the Eichel angst.  We need a hero.  There are two obvious heros possibilities here, Eichel and Lehner.

 

Miller was a favorite until the team wasn't good enough and then he became a goat.  Same with Pominville.  In the absence of success we look for blame.

[Weave]

 Honestly, I don't think a lot of the people defending Lehner know much about goaltending. But that's just IMHO  :flirt:

 

OK, I'll bite.  What makes your resume more suited to NHL goalie evalution than the others here?

 

 

[erickompositör72]

OK, I'll bite.  What makes your resume more suited to NHL goalie evalution than the others here?

 

 

eh, nothing that could be considered more than "anecdotal" for our purposes, combined with a genuine passion for the art of goaltending.

 

I haven't been posting here very long, so I accept I don't really have any credibility at this point. That post was kind of a passive-aggressive way of me lamenting that fact. Take what I say as you will  ;)

[dudacek]

Trade him at the deadline for whatever. I don't really care how well he's been playing. It happens in contract years. The remarks about Toronto and video reviews should be the last straw.

 

In any event, like with Evander, I don't see any scenario where he'd want to come back.

So, a case of addition by subtraction?

We’re going to be a better team with Ullmark and/or a cheap free agent?

 

That’s the direction I’d be leaning, but that’s putting a lot of eggs in Ullmark’s basket.

We aren’t making the playoffs if he’s not ready.

 

We aren’t getting a better goalie than Lehner in free agency and it doesn’t make sense to spend the assets it would take to get an upgrade - guys like Allen and Talbot and Jones and Gibson and Andersen and Bishop came with hefty price tags and have comparable numbers.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Mick O’Manly