Goaltending this season and Beyond

[Thorner]

On 3/6/2022 at 10:00 AM, GASabresIUFAN said:

A goaltender with even a 5 year deal wouldn’t block a single prospect.  First there are two jobs.  If the kid is better he plays. It’s why Varlomov, Quick, Talbot and others are available.   Also we have seen over the last two years how important it is to have at least 2 good goalies at all times.  

Quality goaltending is very thin in todays expanded NHL.  If by some miracle two prospects emerge and force KA to move on from the vet, there is a strong trade market for veteran goaltenders with term. 

Right now the Sabres don’t have any viable goaltenders.  Anderson and Tokarski are UFAs (and aren’t worth retaining). UPL is still struggling at times in the AHL (he gave up 6 goals on 32 shots last night).  He is also an RFA.  Levi and Portillo remain unsigned and in college.  

KA needs to acquire two goaltenders from outside the organization at a minimum.  

 

 

Absolutely. Having a goalie you need to trade in a pro-goalie market is not only a good problem to have, it’s significantly better than the problem of not having a goalie at all because you didn’t bring one in and your prospects didn’t end up cutting it, not to mention the losing in the interim while you are waiting. 

Potentially “Blocking” a few “maybes” is a total non-factor 

[sabresparaavida]

Sabres record with Anderson in net: 9-8

Sabres record without Anderson in net: 10-24-8

 

^This is my primary reason for hope next year, if we can get solid goaltending, we can be competitive, especially with the influx of young talent incoming.

[WildCard]

3 minutes ago, sabresparaavida said:

Sabres record with Anderson in net: 9-8

Sabres record without Anderson in net: 10-24-8

 

^This is my primary reason for hope next year, if we can get solid goaltending, we can be competitive, especially with the influx of young talent incoming.

If only Levi wasn't 2-4 years off

[Randall Flagg]

5 minutes ago, sabresparaavida said:

Sabres record with Anderson in net: 9-8

Sabres record without Anderson in net: 10-24-8

 

^This is my primary reason for hope next year, if we can get solid goaltending, we can be competitive, especially with the influx of young talent incoming.

Do this with Ullmark last year and then look at how we addressed goaltending this summer to get to the stats you quote here. 

Hell, repeat the exercise going back one year at a time through Hutton and Chad Johnson and whoever else. 

Where you feel hope I feel dread 

[sabresparaavida]

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

If only Levi wasn't 2-4 years off

A little bit of Hopium:

UPL is 2-5-2, which is a worse record than Anderson, but actually has better numbers than Anderson this season. 
UPL In the NHL this year has a .917 save percentage compared to Anderson’s .904, and a 2.74 gaa compared to Anderson’s 3.01. I think the differences in record can be  attributed to Anderson’s communication with his defense, less scoring during UPL’s tenure due to covid, and a smaller sample size.

My ideal plan would be to overpay Someone like Francouz on a 1-2 year deal and have UPL as backup, and getting at least one of Levi/Portillo in Rochester for seasoning.

[sabresparaavida]

5 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Do this with Ullmark last year and then look at how we addressed goaltending this summer to get to the stats you quote here. 

Hell, repeat the exercise going back one year at a time through Hutton and Chad Johnson and whoever else. 

Where you feel hope I feel dread 

KA is about to be in year 3 next year, he’ll likely be seeing some pressure to improve. This year’s focus was on development, not winning, so I don’t really hold him accountable for not getting good goaltending this year. We have yet to see what next year’s focus will be, so it’s quite hard to say whether we’ll actually go out and acquire a goalie. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I’m going to make a bold statement.  KA should trade UPL for a D prospect and sign both Levi and Portillo. Re-sign Tokar to mentor in Roch the camp winner between Levi and Portillo.  The loser gets mentored by Houser in Cin. KA’s off-season gameplan would then be to get two vets, say Varlomov or Quick and Georgiev or Samsonov to back up the older vet.  
 

 

Edited March 13, 2022 by GASabresIUFAN

[LGR4GM]

On 3/11/2022 at 1:28 PM, WildCard said:

If only Levi wasn't 2-4 years off

I'm not sure this is the case. Levi will be signed this year because he's in reality a sophomore, they aren't letting him get a year closer to ufa.

[WildCard]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I'm not sure this is the case. Levi will be signed this year because he's in reality a sophomore, they aren't letting him get a year closer to ufa.

You think he has a shot playing for the Sabres next year then? Or would it be the Amerks?

[ddaryl]

1 hour ago, WildCard said:

You think he has a shot playing for the Sabres next year then? Or would it be the Amerks?

I would think he gets a call up at some point, but starts in the AHL....  I sure do hope he goes pro.... I also hope Portillo decides to go pro too.

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, WildCard said:

You think he has a shot playing for the Sabres next year then? Or would it be the Amerks?

I'd hope Amerks but idk. What do you do if you're Buffalo and he comes into camp and owns it? 

[bob_sauve28]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I'd hope Amerks but idk. What do you do if you're Buffalo and he comes into camp and owns it? 

Start him!! 

[GASabresIUFAN]

6 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I'm not sure this is the case. Levi will be signed this year because he's in reality a sophomore, they aren't letting him get a year closer to ufa.

I think he maybe a better goalie right now then anyone here not named Anderson.  I suspect he'll start in Rochester like Miller did his first year and get an occasional callup if he playing well.  I also think the Portillo is close behind.  I think both are better then UPL right now and the best thing KA could do is clear UPL out to open a path for both Levi and Portillo.  

[WildCard]

2 hours ago, ddaryl said:

I would think he gets a call up at some point, but starts in the AHL....  I sure do hope he goes pro.... I also hope Portillo decides to go pro too.

 

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I'd hope Amerks but idk. What do you do if you're Buffalo and he comes into camp and owns it? 

Yeah this is in line with my thinking as well. Starts in the Amerks and probably earns some time on the Sabres. Original post was meant to reflect he is a legitimate starter in 2-4 years; seems a usual timeframe for goalies but given his prowess this far seems closer to 2 years than 4

 

 

[Digger]

5 hours ago, WildCard said:

You think he has a shot playing for the Sabres next year then? Or would it be the Amerks?

I would plan on Rochester but look at how many goalies we have use in the past 2 seasons.  Everyone that was able to play goal was given the opportunity (we even signed extra guys just to keep playing).  I hope that's not the case and that we have great health next season but I still would think whoever is playing the best for Rochester will get some NHL games.

[Marvin]

I just realised that Anderson is over DeLuca 0.500 with this team.  That is about as impressive as Ullmark last year.  GMKA really needs to get this right for UPL, Levi, Portillo, and Subban.

[DarthEbriate]

17 minutes ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

I just realised that Anderson is over DeLuca 0.500 with this team.  That is about as impressive as Ullmark last year.  GMKA really needs to get this right for UPL, Levi, Portillo, and Subban.

This team has had horrid goaltending (overall) since Lehner's last season. It's the reason we have Dahlin and now Power. So it's got that going for it... which is nice. But it is time for the GM Sheevyn to get it fixed on the NHL squad and not just in the pipeline.

[JohnC]

On 3/13/2022 at 11:19 AM, LGR4GM said:

I'd hope Amerks but idk. What do you do if you're Buffalo and he comes into camp and owns it? 

I would still send him to Rochester and let him get heavy duty play. Based on his play in camp this year Peterka should have earned a roster spot. He was sent to Rochester to get a lot of playing time and opportunities to play in more roles. It was the right thing to do.