Sabres Waiver Claim Colten Ellis

[LGR4GM]

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

[Bangarang]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

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

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

[DarthEbriate]

2 minutes ago, Broken Ankles said:

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. 

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

[Mustache of God]

10 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

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

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

[Believer]

19 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I'd waive Georgiev and keep Ellis.

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.

 

[DarthEbriate]

11 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

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

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.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

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

[darksabre]

16 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

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

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

[dudacek]

39 minutes ago, Broken Ankles said:

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. 

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.

Edited 1 hour ago by dudacek

[LGR4GM]

19 minutes ago, Believer said:

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.

 

Ruff said 2hrs ago they were waiving him

 

[Weave]

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.

 

 

[darksabre]

4 minutes ago, Weave said:

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.

 

 

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

[Eleven]

19 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Should have as soon as season ended. He was our best goalie by far 

Well, he's apparently not Toronto's best goalie by far, because he was just cut.  I guess the Sabres can sign him if they want more below-average goaltending on the team.

[Porous Five Hole]

17 minutes ago, Weave said:

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.

 

 

It is kind of wild that you simultaneously just described Devon Levi.  

[Stads]

On 10/6/2025 at 2:18 PM, Carmel Corn said:

Could he be the Matt Ellis of goaltenders???

Probably could run a better powerplay

[mjd1001]

32 minutes ago, darksabre said:

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

I get that it might be better to be taller/bigger to cover more net.

But in the past 5 years or so...Shesterkin and Saros have been pretty darn good goalies at right about 6 feet tall also.

[shrader]

51 minutes ago, dudacek said:

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.

If they’re playing in junior, they don’t cost against the 50 contracts. Wasn’t there the suggestion at some point that Ratzlaff could go back as an overager? I have no idea if that’s possible or in the cards at all. 
 

I’ll still stick with my original thought on Georgiev. Let’s see if he reports now. 

[shrader]

1 hour ago, Bangarang said:

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

Regardless of where the bar is, if he’s better than that, the team has just improved within the last 24 hours. 
 

I really hope that no one chimes in to say that he was claimed more than 24 hours ago. 

[SabreFinn]

Might have been a smart move by Ducks waiting this long waiving Husso. He is a goalie that I expect to have a bounce back season if he get the chance. Really frustrating this Sabres goalie cirkus right now. Husso had been great.  Don’t know anything about this Ellis,  just hoping we once would be lucky. At leasy they have done a good job with their goaltenders in StLouis.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

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

I believe he could be at least solid.  His AHL number are very good.  The real question is will they give him a chance to start?  

His AHL numbers are certainly better than UPL's ever were with a 2.63 & a 9.22 last season.  

[PromoTheRobot]

7 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

Might have been a smart move by Ducks waiting this long waiving Husso. He is a goalie that I expect to have a bounce back season if he get the chance. Really frustrating this Sabres goalie cirkus right now. Husso had been great.  Don’t know anything about this Ellis,  just hoping we once would be lucky. At leasy they have done a good job with their goaltenders in StLouis.

I could only imagine if another team picked up Ellis on waivers. That team would have been soooo much smarter than the Sabres.

[Weave]

48 minutes ago, darksabre said:

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

I mean, they did acknowledge the challenges of seeing pucks in traffic when you can’t see over or around the players in front of you.  That doesn’t absolve taller guys who just don’t have the reflexes or instincts.  It just means taller guys scouting reports identify reflexes and instincts as drawbacks.

[Weave]

37 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

It is kind of wild that you simultaneously just described Devon Levi.  

I seriously doubt there was any actual plan, or trap that was set, to get Ellis.  But having two goalies that thrive in the same system has to be an advantage.

Unless you’ve installed the wrong system for them…..

[SabreFinn]

6 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I could only imagine if another team picked up Ellis on waivers. That team would have been soooo much smarter than the Sabres.

Have you seen him play? What type of goalie is Ellis? 

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, SabreFinn said:

Have you seen him play? What type of goalie is Ellis? 

I can't say I've seen many Thunderbird games on FloHockey, but his stats (.920sv%) and awards (Springfield Team MVP) and the way Blues fans are grousing over losing him, tell me he's worth a claim. At 25 it's time see what he can do in the bigs.