The 5 headed Goalie Monster - What is the solution?

[clink]

1 hour ago, LTS said:

Regression to the mean...

And Ellis, I'm not sure why people are high on him. He won but he didn't look all that good. He over committed on many plays and left a lot of rebounds.  There is a lot more that needs to be seen.

The issue remains that the Sabres don't have a top goaltender. They also haven't fixed a lot of their defensive problems but it hasn't completely bitten them in the ass yet.

I wouldn't worry about 3 goaltenders on the roster right now. It's not like the players being scratched are all that valuable to the team.

At least one of the 2 breakouts that Ellis saves are in the net if old slow hands UPL is the goalie IMO 

Depending on his mood, possibly BOTH go in 

UPL isn't the solution. He's never been the solution. I say it with the upmost confidence, based on prior performance, that he'll NEVER be the solution!!!! 

 

He one of the players that drag this team down IMO 

 

It's time to see what else is out there...

[Taro T]

19 hours ago, shrader said:

They’re in this spot because they got better than expected results. Now they need some time for things to sort themselves out. It’s not the situation of the last couple years. 

Yep.

And they need to get this right.  They don't NEED to have 2 spare D nor 2 spare F's right now (though that's what NHL teams run); run with the 3 headed monster for a month or 2 until it sorts itself out.

Not convinced UPL can mentally take a backups role, so unless he outplays Lyon would be the expected odd-man out.  Lyon-Ellis is the expected pairing; but not convinced Lyon can do it more than a month or 2.  Adams has been ridiculously patient in the past.  No need to rush this call.  And getting this right could literally be the difference between him getting an extension or not.  (Though personally hope he's not getting an extension in any case.)

[Taro T]

5 hours ago, LTS said:

Regression to the mean...

And Ellis, I'm not sure why people are high on him. He won but he didn't look all that good. He over committed on many plays and left a lot of rebounds.  There is a lot more that needs to be seen.

The issue remains that the Sabres don't have a top goaltender. They also haven't fixed a lot of their defensive problems but it hasn't completely bitten them in the ass yet.

I wouldn't worry about 3 goaltenders on the roster right now. It's not like the players being scratched are all that valuable to the team.

There is more to be seen on Ellis.  Hope he gets a game this weekend.

But, have little to no faith in UPL as a backup.  He might be able to get his head around being a starter, but have no faith at all that he can be productive getting a game every 3 or so.  Georgiev is NOT good.  They are committed to Levi playing in Ra-cha-cha this full year.  Which, with Lyon the current starter leaves Ellis as a realistic option at being the backup.  

Most 2 game in 2 night stints aren't going to have teams with TO's firepower on both ends.  They need someone to claim the starter's role.  That appears to be Lyon, but the jury is still out.  But they also need a backup; and for now, would like to see what Ellis can do there.

[darksabre]

5 hours ago, LTS said:

Regression to the mean...

And Ellis, I'm not sure why people are high on him. He won but he didn't look all that good. He over committed on many plays and left a lot of rebounds.  There is a lot more that needs to be seen.

The issue remains that the Sabres don't have a top goaltender. They also haven't fixed a lot of their defensive problems but it hasn't completely bitten them in the ass yet.

I wouldn't worry about 3 goaltenders on the roster right now. It's not like the players being scratched are all that valuable to the team.

Man, it's funny. We watched the same game, but I thought Ellis looked great. 

He was tracking the puck off of the first stop really well, which is something I think UPL is terrible at. For a team like the Sabres, most of the time a goalie making the first stop is a big deal because of how stupid skaters are in their own zone. That he was tracking the puck so well after the first stop is just a bonus. 

There were a number of times where the defense was standing around staring at the puck and he had to make a save, reset, make a save, reset again at side of the net, and I thought he was being very aggressive against the opposing players who were trying to bang rebounds past him. 

His foot speed looked real good. 

My only concern is whether or not he could sustain that kind of aggressive play over a long stretch of games. 

[Skibum]

Whatever the correct answer is, I have a feeling the Sabres will manage to get it wrong. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

On 10/24/2025 at 4:39 PM, Skibum said:

Whatever the correct answer is, I have a feeling the Sabres will manage to get it wrong. 

As they proved last night by playing UPL after one rehab start instead of leaving him in Rochester the full two weeks.  

Adams will say that UPL needs a few starts to get in a groove.  Unfortunately, the Sabres don't have that luxury.  

[Flashsabre]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

As they proved last night by playing UPL after one rehab start instead of leaving him in Rochester the full two weeks.  

Adams will say that UPL needs a few starts to get in a groove.  Unfortunately, the Sabres don't have that luxury.  

This is the most baffling thing. The guy missed most of training camp, he goes down and plays 1 game and suddenly he is ready to go? Makes no sense at all

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

This is the most baffling thing. The guy missed most of training camp, he goes down and plays 1 game and suddenly he is ready to go? Makes no sense at all

Makes sense when you remember Adams has bad processes. 

[Flashsabre]

40 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Makes sense when you remember Adams has bad processes. 

Fireable processes😁

[Demoted]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

This is the most baffling thing. The guy missed most of training camp, he goes down and plays 1 game and suddenly he is ready to go? Makes no sense at all

Sounds like he was well rested.

[Sidc3000]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Makes sense when you remember Adams has bad processes. 

Exactly. I’m sure Adams told Ruff he will not UPL spend any time in ROC 

[PerreaultForever]

I just don't see the issue.

You just waive UPL. I mean you call every GM and ask but after they say no thanks to any trade you waive him. Sure it's a ridiculous contract for an AHL goalie but you did that and you live with it. Don't care what happens to Georgiev. 

There's been goalies with bigger contracts waived before by teams. It's not a radically new thing for a goalie to show promise and then lose it. Some get it back, some never do. 

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

As they proved last night by playing UPL after one rehab start instead of leaving him in Rochester the full two weeks.  

Adams will say that UPL needs a few starts to get in a groove.  Unfortunately, the Sabres don't have that luxury.  

I'm curious: who plays goal Saturday? Lyon? Levi?

Edited 20 hours ago by PromoTheRobot

[Jorcus]

The biggest question in my mind is where is Levi in all of this. Did they just get Ellis as a place holder for UPL or do they want keep him? How are they going to keep him if he has no flex ability to go down to the AHL when they need the roster spot? Why did they not call up Levi when UPL could no go? UPL is not going anywhere unless he is long term IR.    

[inkman]

17 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I just don't see the issue.

You just waive UPL. I mean you call every GM and ask but after they say no thanks to any trade you waive him. Sure it's a ridiculous contract for an AHL goalie but you did that and you live with it. Don't care what happens to Georgiev. 

There's been goalies with bigger contracts waived before by teams. It's not a radically new thing for a goalie to show promise and then lose it. Some get it back, some never do. 

The issue is Adams absolutely will get this wrong.  

[shrader]

30 minutes ago, Jorcus said:

The biggest question in my mind is where is Levi in all of this. Did they just get Ellis as a place holder for UPL or do they want keep him? How are they going to keep him if he has no flex ability to go down to the AHL when they need the roster spot? Why did they not call up Levi when UPL could no go? UPL is not going anywhere unless he is long term IR.    

The options of what to do with Ellis will open up a bit in about a week. At that point St Louis or anyone else claiming him would have to put him on the NHL roster. The Sabres will have the 3-headed monster at least until that point. 

[Jorcus]

30 minutes ago, shrader said:

The options of what to do with Ellis will open up a bit in about a week. At that point St Louis or anyone else claiming him would have to put him on the NHL roster. The Sabres will have the 3-headed monster at least until that point. 

If Ellis went back to St Louis before the 30 day window would he still have to clear waivers or could he go straight to the AHL?

[shrader]

14 minutes ago, Jorcus said:

If Ellis went back to St Louis before the 30 day window would he still have to clear waivers or could he go straight to the AHL?

Yes, that’s when St Louis would be able to send him down… assuming no one else out a claim in on him. Those teams would get a shot at adding him to the NHL roster first. 
 

The Sabres won’t do it before then though, especially since we are so close. The line is actually 30 days or 10 games played. I have no idea how those games played are counted for goalies since he’s in a jersey each night (maybe not this past game?).

[sabrefanday1]

As I recall Lindy did not play UPL much at all last year and think he has no faith in him...guess Adams wants to try and justify him giving UPL that crazy contract

[Jorcus]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

Yes, that’s when St Louis would be able to send him down… assuming no one else out a claim in on him. Those teams would get a shot at adding him to the NHL roster first. 
 

The Sabres won’t do it before then though, especially since we are so close. The line is actually 30 days or 10 games played. I have no idea how those games played are counted for goalies since he’s in a jersey each night (maybe not this past game?).

Ok so he is not protected from another claim if he goes back before the 30 day window. I was just thinking about possible scenarios. 

[Drag0nDan]

On 10/24/2025 at 11:34 AM, DarthEbriate said:

Nah. Ellis is a 3rd round pick who was slated to be St. Louis' AHL started/Levi equivalent this season.

Houser is a career ECHLer who made it to Buffalo via goalie attrition when Adams' "750k" plan was in full effect. Outplaying Dell. Anderson, Luukkonen, Subban all injured. Tokarski out with COVID. etc. And yes, Houser has the best numbers with the Sabres of any of them.

I know, was more just saying 1 game doesn't really mean much.