Three headed goalie monster coming to an end?

[Weave]

1 minute ago, zow2 said:

At this point I'd agree.  Bring up Levi, mix him in with UPL and maybe you will find lightning in a bottle.  I went to that Devils game a week ago, I'd let go of Lyons and keep Ellis.  Lyons just looks slow and small in the nets.  

Lyon

[Doohickie]

1 minute ago, Weave said:

Lyon

@zow2 thinks we have a four headed monster, apparently.

[Jorcus]

13 hours ago, JohninMinn. said:

Promote Levi and ride him to the Cup.

He is not playing very well in Rochester right now. Elevating a slumping goalie is no answer.

[Gatorman0519]

None of them are the solution.

[zow2]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

@zow2 thinks we have a four headed monster, apparently.

He sucks, i can't even spell his name..

[Pimlach]

When the team plays a game like last night its easy to blame the goalie.  

The Flyers game result was more about the Sabres leadership and focus, about playing smart hockey, and keeping self control.  

Brutal mistakes were made all night and usually by the best players on the team. 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Pimlach

[pi2000]

3 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

None of them are the solution.

UPL is serviceable.... IMO he's good enough to be a starter on a playoff team, but not good enough to get this Sabres team to the playoffs.

Considering their recent play I was shocked when Ellis got the start last night.     

UPL hasn't give up more than 3 goals since his first game of the season in late October.   

Both Ellis and Lyon have given up more than 3 in 4 of their last 6 starts... since Nov 1st, they both rank near the bottom of the league in goaltending metrics, while UPL is in the top 3rd.  

It seems obvious that UPL should be the #1 moving forward. 

[kas23]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

UPL is serviceable.... IMO he's good enough to be a starter on a playoff team, but not good enough to get this Sabres team to the playoffs.

Considering their recent play I was shocked when Ellis got the start last night.     

UPL hasn't give up more than 3 goals since his first game of the season in late October.   

Both Ellis and Lyon have given up more than 3 in 4 of their last 6 starts... since Nov 1st, they both rank near the bottom of the league in goaltending metrics, while UPL is in the top 3rd.  

It seems obvious that UPL should be the #1 moving forward. 

Here’s what I would do to level the playing field. After a 2 game win streak, the first goalie who plays enough to win the 3rd stays. 

[French Collection]

Just now, kas23 said:

Here’s what I would do to level the playing field. After a 2 game win streak, the first goalie who plays enough to win the 3rd stays. 

A 3 game win streak would almost be parade worthy.

[kas23]

46 minutes ago, French Collection said:

A 3 game win streak would almost be parade worthy.

It really is, which is why I wonder if it’s even fair to evaluate Ellis based on last night’s loss. An elite goalie would’ve been able to stop some of those goals, but still. 

[quill]

19 hours ago, JohninMinn. said:

Promote Levi and ride him to the Cup.

What cup is that?

I think a lot of us were infatuated with him because of what he accomplished in college and because we were hoping beyond hope that he could finally be the answer. Other than a few bright moments it didn't take long to see that he was nowhere close to being an NHL caliber goalie. Maybe he was put into the NHL situation too fast by the Sabres out of desperation which stymied his development process and confidence, or maybe Levi just is not going to be NHL material for a while, if at all. Either way, I hope he isn't brought up until he actually shows he belongs with the big boys.

[Eleven]

On 12/3/2025 at 2:57 PM, shrader said:

I don’t for a second think that this is something that happens at this stage of a season. 

We diverge here.  I think that's exactly what was happening.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, pi2000 said:

UPL is serviceable.... IMO he's good enough to be a starter on a playoff team, but not good enough to get this Sabres team to the playoffs.

Considering their recent play I was shocked when Ellis got the start last night.     

UPL hasn't give up more than 3 goals since his first game of the season in late October.   

Both Ellis and Lyon have given up more than 3 in 4 of their last 6 starts... since Nov 1st, they both rank near the bottom of the league in goaltending metrics, while UPL is in the top 3rd.  

It seems obvious that UPL should be the #1 moving forward. 

My worst nightmare is that you are correct and yet they trade UPL and he is in fact a solid goalie on a good team, like Ullmark. 

We know what UPL is.  At best he is a streaky guy that can win games if he plays a lot and if he gets support, but he will eventually stumble and cost you games. 

We know what Lyon is.   At best he is a short time 1B that can get hot, but the reality is that he is a journeyman #2

We are learning about Ellis.   

[msw2112]

Obviously Ellis let in a lot of goals last night.  I had the game on in the background on a smaller TV, so I wasn't able to really assess his play or see the nature of the goals closely.  Did Ellis let in any softies?  I'm sure there were some that got in that might have been stopped with an elite save, but overall, was he simply hung out to dry and played fine, or did he play poorly?

With UPL, often the team plays great in front of him, then he lets in a softie and the team deflates.  From what I saw last night, after the first goal that the Sabres scored on the PP, they were terrible for the remainder of the game and no specific poor play by Ellis had anything to do with deflating them.

That said, the failed challenge of the goalie interference may have deflated them.  The wheels seemed to come off right then and there.  Perhaps Lindy saw the wheels coming off and felt that the challenge was worth it to try and salvage momentum by:  a) the small chance that the goal would be taken off the board; b) standing behind his guys who thought it was interference; and/or c) the Sabres PK has been good, so if they lost the challenge and killed off the PP, it would fire the team up.  Obviously, it didn't work and instead backfired in a big way.

Edited 13 hours ago by msw2112

[RETURNTOGLORY]

On 12/2/2025 at 1:39 PM, pi2000 said:

League wide rankings since Nov 1st for goalies who have played at least 185 mins (66 goalies)....

UPL (416 min)
Sv% 21st
GAA 18th
HighDanger SV% 36th
MediumDanger SV% 15th
LowDanger SV% 13th
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 21st

Ellis (303 min)
Sv% 39th
GAA 52nd
High Danger SV% 58th
MediumDanger SV% 48th
LowDanger SV% 31st
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 39th

Lyon (185 min)
Sv% 59th
GAA 64th
High Danger SV% 50th
MediumDanger SV% 28th
LowDanger SV% 61st
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 61st

UPL has separated himself, he should be the clear #1 moving forward. 

A decision needs to be made on the backup. 

Great BUT we still need a true #1 goaltender!

[pi2000]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

My worst nightmare is that you are correct and yet they trade UPL and he is in fact a solid goalie on a good team, like Ullmark. 

We know what UPL is.  At best he is a streaky guy that can win games if he plays a lot and if he gets support, but he will eventually stumble and cost you games. 

We know what Lyon is.   At best he is a short time 1B that can get hot, but the reality is that he is a journeyman #2

We are learning about Ellis.   

I have no issue with them trading UPL, but only under certain conditions....

1. They're either out of the playoff race or a starting goalie is included in the return (or something else happens that nets them an actual starting goalie)
2. They don't retain any of UPL's salary
3. The offer is too good to refuse

...if they're still within reach of a playoff spot and UPL shows some consistency, then it's probably best they keep him.

One other thing... there's folks here worried about the possibility of Ellis getting claimed if Buffalo attempts to assign him to Rochester via waivers.    He's not that good, I just don't understand the concern there. 

[ska-T Palmtown]

On 12/3/2025 at 11:06 AM, clink said:

I think it's more, Terry is getting PO'd about the cash hemorrhaging that his lap dog GM produces, and is forcing certain decisions, ala personnel, which IMO is a TERRIBLE way to manage a squad's "assets." 

And, around and around we go 😵‍💫

The 👏 Sabres  👏 don't 👏 lose  👏 money!!! Please stop. It has been shown time and time again that the Sabres have a decently positive net operating income each year. Could they be raking in considerably MORE if they would stop sucking? Sure. But they don't lose money.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

I have no issue with them trading UPL, but only under certain conditions....

1. They're either out of the playoff race or a starting goalie is included in the return (or something else happens that nets them an actual starting goalie)
2. They don't retain any of UPL's salary
3. The offer is too good to refuse

...if they're still within reach of a playoff spot and UPL shows some consistency, then it's probably best they keep him.

One other thing... there's folks here worried about the possibility of Ellis getting claimed if Buffalo attempts to assign him to Rochester via waivers.    He's not that good, I just don't understand the concern there. 

There are always teams in need of goaltending help.  St Louis is one of them.   

I wanted Ellis to be a steal.  I watch his interviews and I like his temperament.  

[zow2]

8 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Both Ellis and Lyon have given up more than 3 in 4 of their last 6 starts... since Nov 1st, they both rank near the bottom of the league in goaltending metrics, while UPL is in the top 3rd.  

It seems obvious that UPL should be the #1 moving forward. 

Yeah as much as UPL just reminds me of these drought years, and plays small for a big man,…. compared to the other two guys UPL is like Ken Dryden.

[GoPuckYourself]

I would ditch UPL and that contract immediately. He is as average as the rest of these guys and makes the most out of the 3, if we can get out of that contract it would be ideal imo.

[Believer]

I just remember the game against the Caps where UPL started and gave up two goals in the first few minutes. Sabres came back to score three goals and led 3-2 after the first period.

Caps tied it with less than a minute left in the 2nd period, and UPL blanked them in the 3rd period, blanked them in the OT, and won the extra point by stopping all 5 Caps shooters in the Shootout.

UPL has game. Needs to bring it more often. I’m not trading UPL until one of our other goalies starts winning games, and that includes Levi if he gets called up.

[Scottysabres]

What difference does any of it make. Adams isn’t trading anyone, whether that’s Pegula telling him he can make no moves or not is irrelevant at this point.

This management team simply is unable to get anything done. I reflect back to that statement “the answer is in this room”. There is no help coming, no hope.

The only constant I see is that the answer is not in that room. And I find myself asking, how long can this actually go on for?

[sabremike]

Levi has been an outright liability in Rochester this season, calling him up would be absolutely insane. He would get eaten alive.

[Archie Lee]

5 hours ago, sabremike said:

Levi has been an outright liability in Rochester this season, calling him up would be absolutely insane. He would get eaten alive.

It’s always a little dubious to blame poor development for a player failing to thrive. There is just no way to know how the player would have turned out on a different development path. In Levi’s case, though it is certainly too soon to write him off as a prospect, he has not been helped by the development path that Adams has put him on. It’s incredible that Adams is still an NHL GM. 

[Archie Lee]

18 hours ago, pi2000 said:

UPL is serviceable.... IMO he's good enough to be a starter on a playoff team, but not good enough to get this Sabres team to the playoffs.

Considering their recent play I was shocked when Ellis got the start last night.     

UPL hasn't give up more than 3 goals since his first game of the season in late October.   

Both Ellis and Lyon have given up more than 3 in 4 of their last 6 starts... since Nov 1st, they both rank near the bottom of the league in goaltending metrics, while UPL is in the top 3rd.  

It seems obvious that UPL should be the #1 moving forward. 

I think you are right, though UPL’s hold on the role still seems precarious. 

Arbitrary lines in the schedule can always be drawn to support that one player is currently playing better than others. In UPL’s case, there is a legit argument, I think, for drawing a line after the Toronto game, which was his first NHL game of the year, coming off an injury and brief rehab stint. He was not good in that game. Since then he has a 2.31 GAA, a .907 save%, has saved 1.54 goals over expected, and has a 4-3 record. That’s pretty similar to what he was in 2023-24. Obviously a small sample though. If UPL can be the starter and provide that over 40 of our remaining games, we might slowly crawl back in it.  I think he’s the best of some not great options, only because he at least did it once before and fairly recently.