Sabres Waiver Claim Colten Ellis

[ponokasabre]

Levis stats in the AHL last year:

2024-25 Rochester Americans 42 25 13 4 2.20 .919 7 0

Ellis's stats in the AHL last year:

2024-25 Springfield Thunderbirds 42 22 14 2 2.63 .922 3 0


Keep in mind Roch was one of the best teams in the league and Springfield barely broke the .500 line.

This is a good pick up! We all saw what Georgiev was....*****

So this a good hedge to those bets

Lyon
Ellis

Until UPL is back, which my guess may be awhile, then UPL has to compete to unseat one of these two.

Georgiev can go on waivers and if he is claimed too bad! I would almost bet my life savings that no one would claim him! We are all screaming about how crappy he is and then everyone is scared he is gonna get claimed on waivers? No way, Georgiev will clear and he can go back up Levi in Roch.

[French Collection]

Just now, Porous Five Hole said:

The organization needed another goalie for Rochester either way.  
The Amerks are legitimately good and giving 30 games to one of Topias Leinonen or Scott Ratzlaff would be a terrible idea.  
 

What’s scary is it took a UPL injury for KA to do anything.  

If UPL gets healthy and shares the net with Lyon then Rochester could have Levi, Georgiev and Ellis.

[ponokasabre]

Just now, French Collection said:

If UPL gets healthy and shares the net with Lyon then Rochester could have Levi, Georgiev and Ellis.

Ellis has to be on the NHL roster now that he was claimed. If we want to send him to the minors he has to go waivers again, and if he clears, then St Louis can claim him back, just like we did with Reimer last year

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, French Collection said:

If UPL gets healthy and shares the net with Lyon then Rochester could have Levi, Georgiev and Ellis.

Ooooorr, Jacksonville could have Ratzlaff, Leinonen, and Georgiev. 😉 

[Porous Five Hole]

Just now, French Collection said:

If UPL gets healthy and shares the net with Lyon then Rochester could have Levi, Georgiev and Ellis.

Sure—but that is very unlikely because it is unlikely Ellis would clear waivers when we waive him. He can get re-claimed by the Blues and sent to the AHL (which is what they wanted to do all along). 
 

Georgiev wasn’t here until training camp and only signed because of an injury.

[Thorny]

4 minutes ago, ponokasabre said:

Levis stats in the AHL last year:

2024-25 Rochester Americans 42 25 13 4 2.20 .919 7 0

Ellis's stats in the AHL last year:

2024-25 Springfield Thunderbirds 42 22 14 2 2.63 .922 3 0


Keep in mind Roch was one of the best teams in the league and Springfield barely broke the .500 line.

This is a good pick up! We all saw what Georgiev was....*****

So this a good hedge to those bets

Lyon
Ellis

Until UPL is back, which my guess may be awhile, then UPL has to compete to unseat one of these two.

Georgiev can go on waivers and if he is claimed too bad! I would almost bet my life savings that no one would claim him! We are all screaming about how crappy he is and then everyone is scared he is gonna get claimed on waivers? No way, Georgiev will clear and he can go back up Levi in Roch.

Isn’t Ellis a career AHLer? If UPL has to compete to replace him at all we are in trouble 

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, ponokasabre said:

Ellis has to be on the NHL roster now that he was claimed. If we want to send him to the minors he has to go waivers again, and if he clears, then St Louis can claim him back, just like we did with Reimer last year

For 30 days, yes, St. Louis could claim him from Buffalo and send him down without re-reclearing waivers (presuming Sabres were only team making claim; don't recall ottomh the exact mechanics if more than just Buffalo put in a claim).  If he stays on the Sabres for a full month, then St. Louis would be in the same pack as everyone else should Buffalo try to send him to Ra-cha-cha.

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Isn’t Ellis a career AHLer? If UPL has to compete to replace him at all we are in trouble 

He's essentially the same age as Binnington was when he was loaned to San Antonio because he was so far down the depth chart they didn't even want him as their primary AHLer and ended up gettting recalled to the parent club and won the SC.

Goalies are weird; this is a goalie in St. Louis' system and they are even weirder about goalies than goalies are.  And w/ all that said, not expecting much of anything from him except ensuring Georgiev never sees a RS game in Sabre blue and gold (nor Sabre red and black, for that matter 😉 ). 

[ponokasabre]

I am more confident in a guy who was one of the best goalies in the AHL last year with great numbers then Georgiev who was awful awful awful last year.

Plus there is a small chance we could catch lighting in a bottle here. Ellis was is a year older then Levi so right at that key time where goalies catch fire! 

This could be a sneaky good pick up! And lets face it there is not any options out there other then this, is Hellybuck available? Is Tampa trading Vasilevsky? Is the Islanders trading Sorokin? No! These players dont get moved almost ever! 

This has a real chance to be an improvement. I know we all like to ***** on KA for everything he does but this is an improvement. Ellis is better then Georgiev right now, full stop. 

What this also allows is it allows Levi to stay as the starter in Roch, cause if they are done with Georgiev (which I will bet my left nut that they waive him tonight) Then someone needs to back up Lyon and that would have to Levi, and maybe he sits on the bench for too long. This way we bring a goalie that is better then Georgiev but still allows Levi to develop. And maybe we catch lightning in a bottle here. It is more likely that Ellis becomes something then Georgiev suddenly becomes good again. 

Sorry for ranting, I just do truly think the team is better with this player on it, not substantially, ill be honest. But better, with a chance to be really good. 

[JoeSchmoe]

The smarter play would be to just sign Reimer to a one year deal.

[krakensabr56390]

3 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

The smarter play would be to just sign Reimer to a one year deal.

Reimer plays for Toronto now 

[ponokasabre]

3 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

The smarter play would be to just sign Reimer to a one year deal.

Sure, yes instead of Georgiev, but did he want to play here? Who is to say they didnt try? He signed a PTO in Toronto so maybe he wanted the opportunity to play with the team that brought him up

[Thorny]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

He's essentially the same age as Binnington was when he was loaned to San Antonio because he was so far down the depth chart they didn't even want him as their primary AHLer and ended up gettting recalled to the parent club and won the SC.

Goalies are weird; this is a goalie in St. Louis' system and they are even weirder about goalies than goalies are.  And w/ all that said, not expecting much of anything from him except ensuring Georgiev never sees a RS game in Sabre blue and gold (nor Sabre red and black, for that matter 😉 ). 

It’s scares me that this was probably Adams’ chief employed strategy, here: “prove to me he CAN’T be another drastic anomaly. See, you can’t.”

[DarthEbriate]

7 minutes ago, ponokasabre said:

Sure, yes instead of Georgiev, but did he want to play here? Who is to say they didnt try? He signed a PTO in Toronto so maybe he wanted the opportunity to play with the team that brought him up

Or a team with a distinct chance at the playoffs, or at least one that didn't jettison him at the end of preseason, and then let him walk after he was their best goalie.

[dudacek]

Not seeing any indication Ellis is considered an NHL goalie in waiting, but he’s youngish and has had AHL success.

I would think the plan was this:

UPL carrying the load in Buffalo, backed up by Lyon.

Levi carrying the load in Rochester backed up by Leinonen (or Ratzlaff)

Uncertainty over UPL’s health prompted them to sign Georgiev as insurance.

Georgiev’s play prompted them to pick up Ellis.

I would think both Ellis and Georgiev are on roster survivor: play well or get waived. They may have already decided to waive Georgiev.

When UPL is back, one of them will probably back up Levi, the other will be out of a job, probably loaned to another minor league team.

Looks to me that Levi in the NHL is a bullet they don’t intend fire until circumstances warrant it.

[dudacek]

13 minutes ago, ponokasabre said:

Sure, yes instead of Georgiev, but did he want to play here? Who is to say they didnt try? He signed a PTO in Toronto so maybe he wanted the opportunity to play with the team that brought him up

Toronto picked up Cayden Primeau on waivers, so I’m thinking Reimer didn’t stick.

[shrader]

I’m not sure why there is any concern or even any thought going into Georgiev. He’s not sticking with this team and no one is going to claim him. 

[ponokasabre]

3 minutes ago, shrader said:

I’m not sure why there is any concern or even any thought going into Georgiev. He’s not sticking with this team and no one is going to claim him. 

Exactly this x 1000

[RochesterExpat]

26 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Isn’t Ellis a career AHLer? If UPL has to compete to replace him at all we are in trouble 

Because goalie development is so weird, he's not really what I would call a "career AHLer" but from a purely literal standpoint that's a true statement. As for the bit about UPL competing, I'm sort of a "ride the hot hand" fan. If he ends up getting games and posts consecutive shutouts, I'm all for letting him run the table. But as for the career AHLer bit, he turned 25 yesterday, did his full QMJHL experience, and then went to play ECHL with AHL call-ups over the last four seasons. Last season specifically he was given the starting job in the AHL and he was going back to be the starter a second season. That's honestly a pretty normal track for a non-elite goalie.

Normal teams don't carry more than two goalies. The Blues aren't going to waive Binnington and Hofer signed a contract extension in June and has played as Binnington's backup for 30 and 31 games the last two seasons respectively (and, funny enough, posting better numbers than Binnington), so he's not getting waived either. The reality is Ellis doesn't have a shot at cracking the roster without an injury. He's just untested.

It's worth mentioning each season he showed progression while playing for a terrible team. You need only look at his playoff line last season to see how much he was carrying Springfield: 3GP, 1-2, 2.32 GAA & .933 SV%. 

The only thing we should be asking is whether or not Georgiev is worse than a 25-year-old goalie who has never played an NHL game. His preseason wasn't bad. He got a shutout again Chicago (didn't play the full 60) and got a shutout against the Stars (again didn't play the full 60). From a purely numbers standpoint, he was their best goalie in the preseason. So I'm honestly okay keeping him as the backup and waiving Georgiev.

[JoeSchmoe]

35 minutes ago, krakensabr56390 said:

Reimer plays for Toronto now 

He's only on a PTO. And from the sounds of things they're not signing him. I'm not sure if the Sabres can outright offer him a contract while he's on the PTO, but I think any player is taking the guaranteed money.

[dudacek]

13 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

Because goalie development is so weird, he's not really what I would call a "career AHLer" but from a purely literal standpoint that's a true statement. As for the bit about UPL competing, I'm sort of a "ride the hot hand" fan. If he ends up getting games and posts consecutive shutouts, I'm all for letting him run the table. But as for the career AHLer bit, he turned 25 yesterday, did his full QMJHL experience, and then went to play ECHL with AHL call-ups over the last four seasons. Last season specifically he was given the starting job in the AHL and he was going back to be the starter a second season. That's honestly a pretty normal track for a non-elite goalie.

Normal teams don't carry more than two goalies. The Blues aren't going to waive Binnington and Hofer signed a contract extension in June and has played as Binnington's backup for 30 and 31 games the last two seasons respectively (and, funny enough, posting better numbers than Binnington), so he's not getting waived either. The reality is Ellis doesn't have a shot at cracking the roster without an injury. He's just untested.

It's worth mentioning each season he showed progression while playing for a terrible team. You need only look at his playoff line last season to see how much he was carrying Springfield: 3GP, 1-2, 2.32 GAA & .933 SV%. 

The only thing we should be asking is whether or not Georgiev is worse than a 25-year-old goalie who has never played an NHL game. His preseason wasn't bad. He got a shutout again Chicago (didn't play the full 60) and got a shutout against the Stars (again didn't play the full 60). From a purely numbers standpoint, he was their best goalie in the preseason. So I'm honestly okay keeping him as the backup and waiving Georgiev.

Why does a sad part of me think this is mostly about what he did in his last 5 appearances?

It’s Isak Rosen’s U18s all over again.

[ponokasabre]

17 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

Because goalie development is so weird, he's not really what I would call a "career AHLer" but from a purely literal standpoint that's a true statement. As for the bit about UPL competing, I'm sort of a "ride the hot hand" fan. If he ends up getting games and posts consecutive shutouts, I'm all for letting him run the table. But as for the career AHLer bit, he turned 25 yesterday, did his full QMJHL experience, and then went to play ECHL with AHL call-ups over the last four seasons. Last season specifically he was given the starting job in the AHL and he was going back to be the starter a second season. That's honestly a pretty normal track for a non-elite goalie.

Normal teams don't carry more than two goalies. The Blues aren't going to waive Binnington and Hofer signed a contract extension in June and has played as Binnington's backup for 30 and 31 games the last two seasons respectively (and, funny enough, posting better numbers than Binnington), so he's not getting waived either. The reality is Ellis doesn't have a shot at cracking the roster without an injury. He's just untested.

It's worth mentioning each season he showed progression while playing for a terrible team. You need only look at his playoff line last season to see how much he was carrying Springfield: 3GP, 1-2, 2.32 GAA & .933 SV%. 

The only thing we should be asking is whether or not Georgiev is worse than a 25-year-old goalie who has never played an NHL game. His preseason wasn't bad. He got a shutout again Chicago (didn't play the full 60) and got a shutout against the Stars (again didn't play the full 60). From a purely numbers standpoint, he was their best goalie in the preseason. So I'm honestly okay keeping him as the backup and waiving Georgiev.

Love this response!

[steveoath]

It would be nice to be the team that sends out a rando goalie who has a one off unreal season. 

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

Ellis is basically at the point in his career where Levi will be a year from now.  He spent a couple of years in the ECHL, in part, because the Blues had Lindgren and Hofer in the AHL.  He has not been considered at Levi's level as a prospect, but I still prefer giving him a chance to going with Georgiev.

Also, at the risk of dumping on Adams for everything, just looking at all of the goalies who have hit waivers in the last 48 hours (Ellis, DiPietro, Sogaard, Primeau), it seems like Georgiev was a panic move.

 

In hindsight. Are you really thinking that waiting till now to get a goalie to replace UPL was a better idea? You don't expect your projected #1 to tell you he has an owwie 5 minutes before camp starts. Signing an experienced keeper like Georgiev was the move that made sense at the time.

 

[Goldseatsaud]

Is Donnie Edwards available?