The Crease on Opening Night

[Porous Five Hole]

I posted this in the training camp thread, but wanted to talk about where we are.  There are only four preseason games and they start Monday. 

Should we be preparing for Devon Levi to be G1 on opening night?

UPL is hurt and not much info is available for a timeline. Lyon is an NHL backup who can get hot. Georgiev is a lotto ticket who was signed as a just in case. 
 

Are we here expecting UPL out and Lyon or Levi as a starter? Who owns the crease on Oct 9? It is only 2.5 weeks away. Is Devon the plan?

[Weave]

I assume Lyon gets the nod unless Georgiev outperforms him in camp

[LGR4GM]

36 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I posted this in the training camp thread, but wanted to talk about where we are.  There are only four preseason games and they start Monday. 

Should we be preparing for Devon Levi to be G1 on opening night?

UPL is hurt and not much info is available for a timeline. Lyon is an NHL backup who can get hot. Georgiev is a lotto ticket who was signed as a just in case. 
 

Are we here expecting UPL out and Lyon or Levi as a starter? Who owns the crease on Oct 9? It is only 2.5 weeks away. Is Devon the plan?

No, we should be preparing for Lyon

[msw2112]

I'd think that if UPL is still injured and not yet up to speed that we'd see Lyon, or maybe even Georgiev, as the plan seems to be to allow Levi additional time to develop in Rochester.  That said, training camp and the preseason have not even started yet, so maybe the Sabres are waiting to see who performs the best.  If Levi looks the best in camp & preseason action, should he get the net on opening night?  And if so, what's the plan for Rochester?

Edited 9 hours ago by msw2112

[Taro T]

55 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I posted this in the training camp thread, but wanted to talk about where we are.  There are only four preseason games and they start Monday. 

Should we be preparing for Devon Levi to be G1 on opening night?

UPL is hurt and not much info is available for a timeline. Lyon is an NHL backup who can get hot. Georgiev is a lotto ticket who was signed as a just in case. 
 

Are we here expecting UPL out and Lyon or Levi as a starter? Who owns the crease on Oct 9? It is only 2.5 weeks away. Is Devon the plan?

Which 2 preseason games are getting cancelled?  😉   They have h&h's with Columbus, Detroit, & the Pens.

The league isn't going to 84 games in the RS until next year.  It's still 6 - 82 & 1st to 16 out of 28 this time around.  NEXT year they reduce the PS.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

Which 2 preseason games are getting cancelled?  😉   They have h&h's with Columbus, Detroit, & the Pens.

The league isn't going to 84 games in the RS until next year.  It's still 6 - 82 & 1st to 16 out of 28 this time around.  NEXT year they reduce the PS.

You’re right, my bad. 
I missed the tab of October 1st & 3rd v Pitt.  
I did get the season start date correct, so we are still fast approaching 10/9. 
 

I have a sneaking suspicion Levi will get first crack over Lyon because that’s what this organization does. 

[LGR4GM]

28 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

You’re right, my bad. 
I missed the tab of October 1st & 3rd v Pitt.  
I did get the season start date correct, so we are still fast approaching 10/9. 
 

I have a sneaking suspicion Levi will get first crack over Lyon because that’s what this organization does. 

If that were the case, they'd have him skating with the NHL section of the camp roster, but they don't.

[JoeSchmoe]

I really hope Levi lights it up in training camp. By far he has the most upside out of the 4. He's paid his dues in the minors and has played pretty well for the most part.

Hopefully he put the work in this summer and takes that next step this year.

With the other three, I don't realistically see any of them being much above .900 even in a good year. At least not on this team.

[Taro T]

51 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

You’re right, my bad. 
I missed the tab of October 1st & 3rd v Pitt.  
I did get the season start date correct, so we are still fast approaching 10/9. 
 

I have a sneaking suspicion Levi will get first crack over Lyon because that’s what this organization does. 

Personally don't expect to see that happen unless Levi clearly outplays the other 2, but we shall see.

They have set it up in a manner where he'll need to win the job.  How hard they're going to make that remains to be seen, but would expect him to be between the pipes the day the Amerks season kicks off.

[French Collection]

It would be great if The Beast had a fantastic summer and beat those guys for the net.
My leash for UPL is very short now.

[GASabresIUFAN]

7 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Should we be preparing for Devon Levi to be G1 on opening night?

Does it matter?  Which of the four were any good last year?  Lyon had the best save% of .896.  I guess that makes him the favorite for the starting job.

Edited 2 hours ago by GASabresIUFAN

[Thorny]

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Does it matter?  Which of the four were any good last year?  Lyon had the best save? of .896.  I guess that makes him the favorite for the starting job.

I know you’re pessimistic on this team and that’s fair, but it does matter.  Are you betting on Lyon to be NHL average and keep this team afloat until UPL is ready?

Actually, I just kind of threw up in my mouth a little.
 Maybe you’re right and it doesn’t matter.  
For the record, I would roll with Levi and hope he can catch lighting in a bottle.  And I know hope isn’t a strategy, but it’s where we are at. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

18 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I know you’re pessimistic on this team and that’s fair, but it does matter.  Are you betting on Lyon to be NHL average and keep this team afloat until UPL is ready?

Actually, I just kind of threw up in my mouth a little.
 Maybe you’re right and it doesn’t matter.  
For the record, I would roll with Levi and hope he can catch lighting in a bottle.  And I know hope isn’t a strategy, but it’s where we are at. 

No.  This team can't stay afloat with average or worse goaltending.  That's been my point for years about Adam's waiting for UPL/Levi to develop strategy.   

I posted this before, but it deserves to be repeated.  Here are the Save % for our 4 goalies in the NHL last season.

UPL - 55 games  .887 save %

Levi - 9 games .872 save %

Lyon -  30 games .896 save %

Georgiev - 49 games .875 save %

NHL average goalie .893 save %

When an average NHL goalie is your best option in net for a team desperate to make the playoffs, the GM has failed the organization.

Edited 2 hours ago by GASabresIUFAN