Should adding a proven goalie be priority #1 this offseason?

[Pimlach]

18 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

Goalie needs to be #1 because this team's defense isn't built to actually be good at defense. I don't see us winning a cup without a top-end elite goalie.

Do whatever is takes to get Hellebuyck or have a plan that just as good that isn't as obvious.

The Sabres were 5th in goals against in the entire league.   Playing good team defense is what allowed them to get hot from Dec 9 to the end of the season - the had the best record in the league over that point.  

Hellebuyck would be a good pickup for the right price.  

[BullBuchanan]

14 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

The Sabres were 5th in goals against in the entire league.   Playing good team defense is what allowed them to get hot from Dec 9 to the end of the season - the had the best record in the league over that point.  

Hellebuyck would be a good pickup for the right price.  

Do they get their name on the cup for that?

Beating up scrubs and inflating stats in the regular season is a Buffalo sports specialty. Our goaltending was downright awful in the playoffs - you know, the only time of the year where it actually matters.

[LETSTUCHINGO]

14 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

Do they get their name on the cup for that?

Beating up scrubs and inflating stats in the regular season is a Buffalo sports specialty. Our goaltending was downright awful in the playoffs - you know, the only time of the year where it actually matters.

Beating up scrubs and inflating our stats?? We were the scrubs for the last 14yrs! 

Edited May 20 by LETSTUCHINGO

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

And the Sabres leave the City of Brotherly Love up three games to one!

(Jay McKee)

I like it, but I don't catch the reference here.

(The clips I saw were of the Capitals and Penguins.)

[transient]

I don't know about priority #1, but it should be a priority. Jarmo should shake every tree to see if there is an option with a higher floor than our current tandem/stable within the confines of a deal that makes sense.

Someone in a different thread mentioned Jesper Wallstedt in Minnesota. He played well in the playoffs with the exception of 1 game against Colorado, and Minnesota has money tied up in Gustavsson, so there's speculation he'll be traded. The risk there is it's another young goalie, so it may not turn out to be better than what we have in UPL, in which case we probably hold on to Lyon and Ellis for stability. The price will probably be too high, though, after his play in the playoffs.

It may turn out to be a matter of looking for a better option during the season as they come down the stretch next season. Irrespective of how well he played the last 2 games prior to game 7 OT, my hope is, come playoff time next season, the Sabres are not giving games away in a 7 game series because UPL has unraveled again. It's not that goalies don't all give up bad goals, it's that too often UPL gives them up in bunches at the worst time and makes it impossible to scratch and claw back into a game.

[JKB1646]

Tage is a winger. We need a #1 Center. Swing at the fence for Thomas

[inkman]

1 hour ago, JKB1646 said:

Tage is a winger.

Several posters have shared this thought. I’m not here to argue the point but his breakout season came when he was switched from wing to center. Have things changed since then? Yes. Was that the only way he could thrive in Donnie Meatball’s offense? Possibly. Can Tage maintain that success on the wing under Lindy? Most likely. Lindy doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his intellect and intuition. He has a way of understanding players that few coaches do. The anti-Krueger if you will. I think Lindy can make it work, ultimately I think Tage’s issue on the wing is battling for pucks in his feet. He isn’t shaped properly to be adept at it, see Zach Benson.  

[St. Pete Gogolak]

It’s a conundrum for sure.  Glad I’m not Jarmo for this but here goes:

1) go after big name in trade (Hellebuyck, Wallstedt, etc.). Hate this idea.  Give away prime assets to sign goalie who will take up a lot of cap? No thanks.

2) sign FA. Not much of a market. Not clear signing any FA makes us significantly better. Again, wasted cap space.  
 

3) go with who we have. I think the smart thing here is to trade either UPL or Lyon.  Lyon was great against Boston and first game against Montreal. And then he wasn’t. Both goalies were on a roller coaster against Montreal.  Went back and forth all season which one I would trade in the offseason.  Our goal now shouldn’t be anything less than winning the Cup.  Always said I would have fired Marv Levy after third SB loss.  You have to ask “will this coach win us a SB?”.  If answer is no, you need to go in a different direction. Same here except question is “will this goalie win us a Cup?”.  I think the answer for both is no, but UPL has a cap hit of $4.75 and Lyon has cap hit of $1.5. Plus I think UPL has sufficient value at this point such that we can trade him for a draft pick without retaining salary.  So you keep Lyon, Ellis and Levi (assume we can roster all three like we did this year) and trade the loser of the Ellis/Levi competition during the season. Hell, if the two kids look great, trade Lyon.  I don’t know if Ellis or Levi can win us a Cup but I don’t know yet if they can’t.  

[transient]

5 minutes ago, inkman said:

Several posters have shared this thought. I’m not here to argue the point but his breakout season came when he was switched from wing to center. Have things changed since then? Yes. Was that the only way he could thrive in Donnie Meatball’s offense? Possibly. Can Tage maintain that success on the wing under Lindy? Most likely. Lindy doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his intellect and intuition. He has a way of understanding players that few coaches do. The anti-Krueger if you will. I think Lindy can make it work, ultimately I think Tage’s issue on the wing is battling for pucks in his feet. He isn’t shaped properly to be adept at it, see Zach Benson.  

Yeah, but Benson is a one-off. I mean, who the hell is going fishing for a puck that's in his feet...

[#freejame]

40 minutes ago, inkman said:

Several posters have shared this thought. I’m not here to argue the point but his breakout season came when he was switched from wing to center. Have things changed since then? Yes. Was that the only way he could thrive in Donnie Meatball’s offense? Possibly. Can Tage maintain that success on the wing under Lindy? Most likely. Lindy doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his intellect and intuition. He has a way of understanding players that few coaches do. The anti-Krueger if you will. I think Lindy can make it work, ultimately I think Tage’s issue on the wing is battling for pucks in his feet. He isn’t shaped properly to be adept at it, see Zach Benson.  

It depends if Tommy Dangles is willing to be Shooter Tom. If he’s going to eat into everyone’s space from the wing then he’s going to kill plays. 

[PASabreFan]

3 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I like it, but I don't catch the reference here.

(The clips I saw were of the Capitals and Penguins.)

Just another unexpected, soft OT goal. Jay came down the left wing and wristed a low shot into the corner of the net.

 

[Ducky]

9 hours ago, Pimlach said:

The Sabres were 5th in goals against in the entire league.   Playing good team defense is what allowed them to get hot from Dec 9 to the end of the season - the had the best record in the league over that point.  

Hellebuyck would be a good pickup for the right price.  

I don't think Helle is moved until next season (if he is moved).

If he is moved before then, he dictates where he goes which gets the Jets less of a return.

If Chevy waits until next off-season, I think there are ten teams he can be traded to.

If he is traded now, the price will be steep.

Edited May 21 by Ducky

[Porous Five Hole]

To the OP’s original equation…yes 100% fixing the crease is the number one priority for me this offseason. The problem is I have zero ideas on how to do that. But I don’t want run it back with UPL as a co-number one.
 

At least there’s a new marshal in charge because I would have had zero confidence that our old GM would do anything.  Running it back with UPL as the lead is just not good enough. 

[...]

Jarmo didn't sound like he's interested in the goalie market.

[French Collection]

7 hours ago, ... said:

Jarmo didn't sound like he's interested in the goalie market.

He isn’t going to throw his goalies under the bus.

He realizes that their play in the regular season was good and they were a big part of winning the division. He and Lindy both said the three headed goalie group worked and they supported each other really well.

There are not many goalies out there, never mind available, who give consistent year over year elite play. The established ones will cost a lot in assets and have $8–10 M cap hits, which hampers signing Benson, Byram and Tuch.

I would like to see an upgrade as well but don’t think this is happening.

Goalies are different, weird is another term used, so it is difficult to get high level consistency.

UPL can play like a top 10 goalie for stretches but lets in soft goals and mentally shrinks for a while after these goals. He is 27 and goalies seem to peak near 30. Maybe he has some upside. He is Finnish, which may move him up a tick in Jarmo’s mind. He can be good enough to win a lot of games but needs a solid backup for when his game goes into a funk.

Lyon is who he is. He seems like a smart veteran backup who can go in for stretches and perform like a number 1 goalie. He is a solid backup with a good attitude. He has never been a #1 and will never get there.

Ellis is an unknown who can win games at the NHL level. Being called upon in NHL games a few times per season while not playing anywhere is challenging and he did OK. I think he has upside and can learn a lot from Lyon. Perhaps Jarmo had some or a lot of input when Ellis was picked up on waivers.

Levi is still a potential NHL goalie. He is a KA guy and he will have to shine at camp to change minds on which 3 stay in Buffalo. I would guess that another team would pick him up on waivers, especially if carrying 3 goalies becomes a thing. He is probably good enough to be a 2 or 3 on a few teams.

I think Lindy believes he can manage this 3 headed group to another similar season and they run it back.

[Taro T]

35 minutes ago, French Collection said:

He isn’t going to throw his goalies under the bus.

He realizes that their play in the regular season was good and they were a big part of winning the division. He and Lindy both said the three headed goalie group worked and they supported each other really well.

There are not many goalies out there, never mind available, who give consistent year over year elite play. The established ones will cost a lot in assets and have $8–10 M cap hits, which hampers signing Benson, Byram and Tuch.

I would like to see an upgrade as well but don’t think this is happening.

Goalies are different, weird is another term used, so it is difficult to get high level consistency.

UPL can play like a top 10 goalie for stretches but lets in soft goals and mentally shrinks for a while after these goals. He is 27 and goalies seem to peak near 30. Maybe he has some upside. He is Finnish, which may move him up a tick in Jarmo’s mind. He can be good enough to win a lot of games but needs a solid backup for when his game goes into a funk.

Lyon is who he is. He seems like a smart veteran backup who can go in for stretches and perform like a number 1 goalie. He is a solid backup with a good attitude. He has never been a #1 and will never get there.

Ellis is an unknown who can win games at the NHL level. Being called upon in NHL games a few times per season while not playing anywhere is challenging and he did OK. I think he has upside and can learn a lot from Lyon. Perhaps Jarmo had some or a lot of input when Ellis was picked up on waivers.

Levi is still a potential NHL goalie. He is a KA guy and he will have to shine at camp to change minds on which 3 stay in Buffalo. I would guess that another team would pick him up on waivers, especially if carrying 3 goalies becomes a thing. He is probably good enough to be a 2 or 3 on a few teams.

I think Lindy believes he can manage this 3 headed group to another similar season and they run it back.

Definitely got the impression that the Sabres plan to run with another 3 headed goalie monster moving forward and that the most likely grouping is the 3 they had this year.

Hopefully, if that's what happens, it works; but there's a fair amount of risk with that too.

This year, they had injuries that forced them to start the year with 3 and they had the Blues ready to pounce should they waive Ellis so they were pretty much forced to keep all 3 if they didn't want to give up Ellis for nothing.  And Ellis was happy to have an NHL job and UPL and Lyon seemed to be good with not having to go through the full game day routine when they weren't getting the start knowing they were getting the start the next day.  But will Ellis be happy in that role again next year?  PLAYING in the NHL was the dream, not having the best seat in the entire building while watching 2 other guys get to do what he wants to do.  Will he be able to keep the disappointment of being the clear 3 from showing again?  Will Lyon still be effective as he gets another year older?  Will UPL finally seize the starter's role or will he still have enough lapses to make them consider moving Lyon up a notch or even give Ellis a chance to see what he can do?

Plus there's still the elephant in the room that both UPL and Lyon had stinkers in the playoffs.  Neither took control of the starter's role.  The long time mantra in the NFL is "if you have 2 starting QBs, you don't have any."  Is the NHL equivalent going to become "if you have 3 goalies that you're good with putting between the pipes on any given night, do you have 1 you can truly rely on when you MUST win?"

And then there's the question of can you get anything for Levi or do you just ride it out and let him get claimed on waivers?  He tends to come into camp in very good shape and has outplayed UPL and others in the past in camp.  What happens if he does that again?  Does Kekalainen try to trade Ellis and hope Levi will play nice in the Ellis role?

Pretty sure about the best they could do this year is find out Minny really is willing to part with Wallstadt for a reasonable package with UPL being a key portion of it.  Then if they do roll with the 3 headed monster again, it's with a guy that is a 1, a guy that's a 2, and a kid that could be great or could just be another in a long line of prospects that didn't quite turnout.

[...]

Goaltending wasn't the Sabres' issue in the playoffs. Their issue was puck management.

Jarmo is correct to not worry about the three-headed monster. It served them well in the regular season.

UPL - 2.51(GAA)    .909(SV%) 25-26 regular season
Lyon - 2.77(GAA)    .906(SV%) 25-26 regular season

Save Percentage: The Sabres maintained a team save percentage of .899, which was above the league average of .889, making them 3rd in the entire NHL.

5-on-5 Efficiency: At 5-on-5, the Sabres posted a .920 save percentage, outperforming the league average of .913. making them 4th overall.

 

[PromoTheRobot]

11 hours ago, ... said:

Jarmo didn't sound like he's interested in the goalie market.

Because it's a fool's errand to think you can trade for elite goaltending.

[Porous Five Hole]

12 hours ago, ... said:

Goaltending wasn't the Sabres' issue in the playoffs. Their issue was puck management.

Jarmo is correct to not worry about the three-headed monster. It served them well in the regular season.

UPL - 2.51(GAA)    .909(SV%) 25-26 regular season
Lyon - 2.77(GAA)    .906(SV%) 25-26 regular season

Save Percentage: The Sabres maintained a team save percentage of .899, which was above the league average of .889, making them 3rd in the entire NHL.

5-on-5 Efficiency: At 5-on-5, the Sabres posted a .920 save percentage, outperforming the league average of .913. making them 4th overall.

 

Sorry, but I can’t agree. Goaltending lost them the Montreal series. Each guy got pulled in a seven game series. That can’t happen.  
 

I agree the Sabres are not who they were without their goaltending throughout the year. But the crease let them down in this series. 

[dudacek]

On 5/19/2026 at 6:33 PM, Flashsabre said:

Who qualifies as a proven goalie?

Vasi and Swayman and Oettinger were bounced in the first round.

Hellebuyck, Sorokin, goalie Bob  and Shesterkin didn’t make the playoffs.

The days of the franchise goalie that carries his team on his back are gone.

Sabres lost in OT of Game 7. They had 2 goalies that they could switch between. It worked all season.

Let’s consider this carefully.

Goalies extremely successful for months sharing an alternating the workload.

Goalies break down repeatedly if one sits and the other is leaned on heavily.

Just spitballing here, but maybe they should have stuck with the method that worked?

”But in hockey you have to rely on one goalie only if you want to win the Stanley Cup! It’s the way it’s always been!”

There was a time when goalie always stayed on their feet and a time when they always played without a mask too.

Sometimes things change. 

Can you imagine baseball teams playing their ace every game? 

Trust your eyes. Do what gives you the best chance at winning.

On 5/20/2026 at 8:14 AM, That Aud Smell said:

Getting good goaltending is essentially witchcraft.

The Sabres Classics Twitter account recently posted footage of Bondra's and Kasparitis's soft OT playoff goals against Hasek.

It provided some perspective on the floater that got by UPL.

Seen a lot of stuff from actual goalkeepers who said wrist shots from that spot almost always rise.

Because it was on its edge, that puck fluttered and dipped.

Consensus was it was a much tougher save than it looked: basically akin to a deflection.

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Let’s consider this carefully.

Goalies extremely successful for months sharing an alternating the workload.

Goalies break down repeatedly if one sits and the other is leaned on heavily.

Just spitballing here, but maybe they should have stuck with the method that worked?

”But in hockey you have to rely on one goalie only if you want to win the Stanley Cup! It’s the way it’s always been!”

There was a time when goalie always stayed on their feet and a time when they always played without a mask too.

Sometimes things change. 

Can you imagine baseball teams playing their ace every game? 

Trust your eyes. Do what gives you the best chance at winning.

Seen a lot of stuff from actual goalkeepers who said wrist shots from that spot almost always rise.

Because it was on its edge, that puck fluttered and dipped.

Consensus was it was a much tougher save than it looked: basically akin to a deflection.

Counterpoint.  The year Ullmark won the Vezina, the B's kept the rotation going in the playoffs and it backfired.

At the end of the day, hindsight will say 31 teams should've done something different.

[apuszczalowski]

There was a idea thrown out by one of the hockey talking heads about a potential deal of the Jets sending Hellebyuk to Buffalo for Power plus 'assetts'. I'm figuring the additional pieces would be picks, but could also see a goalie going back to them in the deal. UPL could interest them because he is a younger potential replacement with NHL experience for them. More then likely Levi would be the goalie they would want (and it's looking like he wants out for a chance to play at the NHL level).

 

If they bring in someone like this, it will most likely lead to 2 of the 3 NHL level guys being moved out and sticking with just 2 guys at the NHL level. Levi also being moved will require them to look at someone for Rochester who can come in to fill in when someone is injured.

[#freejame]

38 minutes ago, apuszczalowski said:

There was a idea thrown out by one of the hockey talking heads about a potential deal of the Jets sending Hellebyuk to Buffalo for Power plus 'assetts'. I'm figuring the additional pieces would be picks, but could also see a goalie going back to them in the deal. UPL could interest them because he is a younger potential replacement with NHL experience for them. More then likely Levi would be the goalie they would want (and it's looking like he wants out for a chance to play at the NHL level).

 

If they bring in someone like this, it will most likely lead to 2 of the 3 NHL level guys being moved out and sticking with just 2 guys at the NHL level. Levi also being moved will require them to look at someone for Rochester who can come in to fill in when someone is injured.

Our top four is the single most important part of our team. There’s no way I move out from any of them unless a top 10 forward is coming back. 

[Scottysabres]

Yes, it should.

The team can score, yes there are games they struggle to do so but those are now in the lesser category. The team needs a more consistent game stealer between the pipes specifically due to their strategic use of defencemen jumping in on the offensive rush and O zone play up Ice.

Get a goalie that is proven in weathering the storm.

[Fansince70]

On 5/19/2026 at 3:26 PM, PromoTheRobot said:

It's probably worth considering moving on from UPL, if you can get something of value for him. But I'm not a fan of overpaying for a name, hoping they return to form.

Start with analytics. Examine goalies on lesser teams, sort where their team's problems were.  If it's apparent the team had no offense and the goalie was getting shelled, take a hard look.   Even Vasilevskiy would look bad in goal for Vancouver.