Sabres goalies for 18-19

[sweetlou]

I think it is safe to say Ullmark will be with the Sabres next year.  I look for Buffalo to move on from Lehner and Johnson and look for another veteran who has played number #1 minutes.  So who is the best fit to join Sabres.

 

Options-

 

RFA- Mrazek will not resign with Flyers since they have Elliott and Neuvirth signed for next year.

RFA- Grubauer- think he would be a good tandem with Ullmark

 

UFA- Hutton- Would give him two year contract at $3 million a year

UFA- Raanta- 2 years $2milllion a year

UFA- Kuemper- 2 years $2 million a year

UFA- Dell- 2 years at $1.5 million a year

 

 

Hutton has played with Coach Housley in Nashville but he is the oldest of the group.

I think Grubauer, Kueper, then Raanta would be my first choices.

Edited February 20, 2018 by sweetlou

[Sabres Fan in NS]

FUCALE!!

 

:flirt:

[Derrico]

FUCALE!!

 

:flirt:

For old time sake eh? Hahaha

[Stoner]

Why do I have this mental image of NS placing the nail of his right thumb behind his two front teeth and flicking it toward us when he says that?

[Gramps]

Seems everyone on the board is pretty down on Lehner but a question ... 

 

Lehner is currently 36th out of 49 in GAA .. how much of that is directly attributable to Lehner's bad play and how much to piss-poor defense by the Sabres ? 

 

If you put Lehner on the Bruins, would his GAA be around the same as Rask's ? If we shored up our own defense, would Lehner be better ? 

 

The Canadiens pretty much suck this year and Price's numbers reflect that. I think most of us would take Price in a heartbeat even though he's now 30. A lot 

of folks thought Fleury was done and he's close to leading the league. 

Edited February 20, 2018 by Gramps

[North Buffalo]

Seems everyone on the board is pretty down on Lehner but a question ... 

 

Lehner is currently 36th out of 49 in GAA .. how much of that is directly attributable to Lehner's bad play and how much to piss-poor defense by the Sabres ? 

 

If you put Lehner on the Bruins, would his GAA be around the same as Rask's ? If we shored up our own defense, would Lehner be better ? 

 

The Canadiens pretty much suck this year and Price's numbers reflect that. I think most of us would take Price in a heartbeat even though he's now 30. A lot 

of folks thought Fleury was done and he's close to leading the league.

 

He over plays the puck or over moves when he doesnt have to is unaware of his holes so he doesnt show something and take away he just shows it and the other team shoves in that hole...

[darksabre]

Lehner is bad

[Gramps]

So it's all on Lehner and nothing on the D ? No correlation at all between poor defense play and a higher GAA ? 

 

I recognize that Lehner is deficient in some areas, but he has also had some very good games. 

[darksabre]

So it's all on Lehner and nothing on the D ? No correlation at all between poor defense play and a higher GAA ?

 

I recognize that Lehner is deficient in some areas, but he has also had some very good games.

Sure but he's bad.

[Rasmus_]

I think it is safe to say Ullmark will be with the Sabres next year.  I look for Buffalo to move on from Lehner and Johnson and look for another veteran who has played number #1 minutes.  So who is the best fit to join Sabres.

 

Options-

 

RFA- Mrazek will not resign with Flyers since they have Elliott and Neuvirth signed for next year.

RFA- Grubauer- think he would be a good tandem with Ullmark

 

UFA- Hutton- Would give him two year contract at $3 million a year

UFA- Raanta- 2 years $2milllion a year

UFA- Kuemper- 2 years $2 million a year

UFA- Dell- 2 years at $1.5 million a year

 

 

Hutton has played with Coach Housley in Nashville but he is the oldest of the group.

I think Grubauer, Kueper, then Raanta would be my first choices.

 

Raanta will require more than 2M per season to sign him.  He's having a sneaky strong season for the worst team in the NHL.  He's going to easily top Hutton in that price range.  I personally view it as:  Raanta, Grubauer, Mrazek, Kuemper, Hutton, Dell, etc.   I'm not all that interested in Hutton (33) and Dell (29) as they are up their in age with no predictability in starting.  Now if this is a job to push Ullmark for a back up spot, then Dell / Kuemper make the most sense.  Raanta has earned the right to be called a #1 goalie, as has Mrazek to an extent. 

[miles]

i would honestly be fine with johnson as a backup. i mean he is only going to play 2 maybe 3 times per month or so, of course unless if ullmark got injured. i dont think the sabres will get a goalie like raanta to play backup, unless ullmark is expected to be backup next year?

[Drunkard]

I'd rather keep Lehner on another one year deal to rotate with Ullmark than to keep Johnson. Johnson sucks worse than Lehner in every category. The Lehner hate is getting out of hand if people honestly prefer Johnson over him.

[nfreeman]

Really, IMHO this comes down to whether JBott wants to commit to Ullmark as the #1 for next year.  If he does, then a CJ type as the #2 would make sense and allow $2MM - $3MM in savings on the G spot (heh) to be spent elsewhere.

 

If not, then he'll need to bring in either an established starter or a young #2 (like Lehner was, and Bernier, Gibson, Andersen, etc.) to either run with the #1 slot or at least compete with Ullmark for it.

 

I would guess that it will be the latter.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Grubauer is a very good goalie, which isn't that noticeable since he's wasting away behind Holtby.  Love to have him but he's not likely available for another year.

[dudacek]

i would honestly be fine with johnson as a backup.

This cracks me up given your screen name. Johnson has been so much worse than Lehner.

[darksabre]

I would offer Enroth a deal to come back to the states from the KHL...

[Taro T]

i would honestly be fine with johnson as a backup. i mean he is only going to play 2 maybe 3 times per month or so, of course unless if ullmark got injured. i dont think the sabres will get a goalie like raanta to play backup, unless ullmark is expected to be backup next year?

If it didn't appear that Ullmark is the heir apparent next year, would probably be there as well. But I'd really like to see a better goalie in the tandem in case Ullmark is only ready for 40-ish games.

 

Would expect Ullmark is ready to step up to 55+ games next year, but if he isn't, am really getting tired of watching uncompetitive teams.

[Thorner]

Really, IMHO this comes down to whether JBott wants to commit to Ullmark as the #1 for next year.  If he does, then a CJ type as the #2 would make sense and allow $2MM - $3MM in savings on the G spot (heh) to be spent elsewhere.

 

If not, then he'll need to bring in either an established starter or a young #2 (like Lehner was, and Bernier, Gibson, Andersen, etc.) to either run with the #1 slot or at least compete with Ullmark for it.

 

I would guess that it will be the latter.

  

If it didn't appear that Ullmark is the heir apparent next year, would probably be there as well. But I'd really like to see a better goalie in the tandem in case Ullmark is only ready for 40-ish games.

Would expect Ullmark is ready to step up to 55+ games next year, but if he isn't, am really getting tired of watching uncompetitive teams.

These exactly.

 

We need to be competitive next year. I’m fine with Ullmark getting his first shot to staple down the #1 role, but we need a capable tender there with him fighting for that same role. I think the best option is a projected 50/50 battle for the starter position, Ullmark and another guy with starter potential.

 

Obviously Ullmark is still the end-game, but not only does the other guy provide insurance, hopefully a competitive battle elevates both guys to greater heights. In theory I wouldn’t even be opposed to the other guy being Lehner, purely based on talent, but I think his attitude is an issue to Botterill and that he also won’t want to pay him.

 

But there’s no market for Lehner. Is everyone ok with letting him walk for nothing? Can’t see very much in return if anything.

[Drunkard]

Really, IMHO this comes down to whether JBott wants to commit to Ullmark as the #1 for next year. If he does, then a CJ type as the #2 would make sense and allow $2MM - $3MM in savings on the G spot (heh) to be spent elsewhere.

 

If not, then he'll need to bring in either an established starter or a young #2 (like Lehner was, and Bernier, Gibson, Andersen, etc.) to either run with the #1 slot or at least compete with Ullmark for it.

 

I would guess that it will be the latter.

If this team wants to have any chance to push for the playoffs next season, they can't just pin their hopes to an unproven rookie and a bum like Johnson. Saving a measly 2 or 3 million on the cap isn't worth it. If they need space that bad they can always buy out Moulson, Pominville, or Bogosian and free up around the same amount of space.

 

Sure Ullmark has looked good in limited duty with the Sabres but the defense was protecting him big time and I doubt they'd be able to keep up that level of tenacity game in and game out over a full season.

 

To bet on that to continue with such a small sample size to go on is risky as hell and could wind up costing GMJB and HCPH both of their jobs. I don't think they'd risk it.

[Gramps]

  

These exactly.

 

We need to be competitive next year. I’m fine with Ullmark getting his first shot to staple down the #1 role, but we need a capable tender there with him fighting for that same role. I think the best option is a projected 50/50 battle for the starter position, Ullmark and another guy with starter potential.

 

Obviously Ullmark is still the end-game, but not only does the other guy provide insurance, hopefully a competitive battle elevates both guys to greater heights. In theory I wouldn’t even be opposed to the other guy being Lehner, purely based on talent, but I think his attitude is an issue to Botterill and that he also won’t want to pay him.

 

But there’s no market for Lehner. Is everyone ok with letting him walk for nothing? Can’t see very much in return if anything.

 

Trade him and Doug Allen to the Irish Tenors for Ronan Tynan

[miles]

This cracks me up given your screen name. Johnson has been so much worse than Lehner.

 

i completely agree. johnson has been so bad, it is hard to imagine worse. however, it is for backup position. it is unlikely a team as bad as the sabres will get a top notch goalie to play backup

[PerreaultForever]

The thing about Lehner is he had glaring weaknesses when we got him and he still has those same weaknesses. He didn't seem to work on improving his flaws, which is what a young up and comer is supposed to do if he wants to be great. I wonder if he is uncoachable? Either that, or we as a franchise need a good goalie coach.  

 

I actually wonder about that for a lot of our players. Big egos and small work ethics all around. 

[miles]

i wonder if lehner is sitting around his house thinking to himself. 

 

why are people are so down on me. when i was younger, i got so many of those shiny participant awards. in fact i got one every year.  now, i read the AUD club and there are only 2 people on the whole message board that think i am terrific. Tell me AUD members, if i am so bad, how come i have 15 participation awards. Answer me that!

 

@*&$$!

[dudacek]

From what I have read about Lehner’s father and his upbringing, he should be the opposite of a fragile snowflake.

Edited February 24, 2018 by Mick O’Manly

[Huckleberry]

I would offer Enroth a deal to come back to the states from the KHL...

 

Think I mentioned it before, Enroth is playing well in the KHL, would love for him to back up Ullmark if Lehner gets traded.