All Activity

The opening night goalies are going to be Lyon and Ellis. Your opening night D includes Bryson, Johnson, Timmins and Samuelsson in a top 4 slots. What could possibly go wrong?

Wow, Brawndo, I knew this about five hours ago. You're slacking.

It's not that simple (and I think we all know that), but I love this sentiment just the same. Down, boy. Down. You know better. VERY true. I often take the light rail as part of my commute home on game nights. I venture that not a single person I see getting on the train headed downtown has ever been on this message board. I envy them.

I'm as cynical as anyone, but I have zero issue with signing Georgiev or claiming Ellis. Admittedly Adams put us in the situation where any breathing goalie was worth a try, but at least Georgiev has played good hockey in the NHL at times and Ellis has very good AHL numbers, but was stuck behind Binnington. It would have been nice if Georgiev worked out, but so be it. Good luck in Rochester or with your new team

I like these two thoughts together.

I like how being 6 feet tall is considered a negative for him like there aren't tons of giant goalies who also stink.

Now that it seems Ellis is our back up for the foreseeable future, I went looking to find some scouting info. Some input from The Hockey Writers back in January: Ellis is a smaller goaltender who doesn’t cover up most of the net when he’s in the crease. He’s six feet tall and 189 pounds, which forces the Thunderbirds to play a specific style of defense to help him out. They must avoid playing in Ellis’s sightline to allow him to see the puck and make the save. While he might not have the best glove in the AHL, he can play any area of the net with quick movement. His flexibility stands out. Ellis is also aggressive and willing to come out of the crease to make a stop or jump on a loose puck to stop a scoring chance. This style of play has its ups and downs, but for the most part, it’s worked out for him. The aggressive style that Ellis plays with comes back to hurt him at times. He’ll be out of position or allow opponents to find wide-open looks on the net because of his urge to make the initial save. It also doesn’t help that Ellis is one of the smaller goaltenders in the league. He won’t see the puck when there’s a shot through traffic, and when the game slows down, he’s left out to dry.

Ruff said 2hrs ago they were waiving him

You’ve got it right. i was not talking about 1-way deals. I was referring to the 50 NHL contract slot limit as opposed to AHL-only deals. Typically, a team carries 2 of 23 in the NHL and 2 of 20-ish in the AHL, and some teams carry a 5th in one of the “taxi squad” slots. It’s not often an NHL team is forced to go to a 5th goalie, so they will often rely on a trade or sign an AHLer when they get into an emergency situation, like the Sabres did with Houser a few years back. Edit @DarthEbriate thanks for doing the legwork. Definitely PTOs and I’m pretty sure junior players (slide) don’t count toward the 50-contract limit.

Most teams will spend to the cap....

Honestly, I think we are debating between whose wings are better, Duffs, Anchor bar, Elmos... etc.. a lot of flailing about for 3 or 4 goaltenders none of which has any real separation from the others in terms of NHL experience that would make you think upgrade... and absolutely none of which fix our goaltending issue in all likelihood at least not now... I have heard Ellis may have some upside... but at the end of the day... Adams is doing with Goalies what Beane does with DL... bring in warm bodies and hope that they surprise you... hope is not a strategy...

I actually think this was a clever waiver claim. High upside to get a well regarded prospect for nothing.

https://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-to-trim-roster-by-waiving-goalie-alexandar-georgiev/

I would say given their respective track records Georgiev was a swing with a much higher upside than Houser. As low as my opinion of him is, I can’t imagine there was a higher-upside option out there available at the price. And that includes guys like Reimer. Lyon already had “safe” covered and “safe” would likely still be available come October.

Adams 5-year extension inbound! He just has to be average to be better than them. I hope Ellis is awesome and carries this team kicking and screaming to 104 points.

Ruff said he won’t waive Georgiev so he can retain the $825k salary on his one year contract. Said he is a good guy who did everything asked of him. Not bad for practices and four preseason games.

I'm convinced he'll be taking home the Calder this year.

It feels goofy. 7 contracts for 6 spots. If everyone is healthy and reports to AHL or goes untraded, you're carrying 3 goalies somewhere on Buffalo, Rochester, or Jacksonville's roster. But they aren't alone: 7 - ANH, EDM, NJ (two PTOs), VAN (includes Medvedev who will play in OHL). So, expect only ANH and EDM within a day or so. 6 - CAR, CLB, MIN, NYI, NYR, PIT (includes Fleury on PTO), SEA, TB, TOR. PIT will drop off the list when Fleury re-retires. 5 - seventeen other teams

I hope so, but I need to see it. Quinn will be one of the players I watch/follow the most in the first few games. 1 major thing to look for: Is he going to the front of the net and getting shots off, or is he staying as probably the most 'perimeter' forward in the league.

Being better than UPL is a low bar to hurdle so it wouldn't surprise me.

What if Colton Ellis is good? Like better than UPL and Lyon?

I would bet at least 275 are best ball which can be easy pickings for someone with a better educated guess and take little time to get involved in.

Who are the seven? You have UPL, Lyon, Georgiev, Levi (who signed a one way but we knew was earmarked for Roch) and now Ellis. Although Puckpedia has the Ellis contract as a two way. And they have Ratzlaff and Leinonen as two way.

But it still doesn't excuse finding someone else for a PTO. Or call Houser and say, "AHL contract waiting for you --- just 3 weeks in preseason Buffalo. Then, guaranteed money and you don't even need to report to Rochester or Jacksonville." Through it all there were no blockers, and now Levi isn't just blocked, he's been encased in AHL carbonite and dropped into the Pit of Carkoon on some planet furthest from the bright center of the galaxy, behind 50-60 other goalies.

I hope he plays well for the Amerks, or wherever he ends up this season... (except if his poor play were to help the Sabres in some fashion. Like he joins the Panthers and has a .650 sv% in 35 games played... that sort of thing.)