Why is Colten Ellis here?

[PromoTheRobot]

This is a question no one has really asked. What is the plan for him going forward?

Consider:

>He was picked up on waivers when we already had Devon Levi.

>Even with Jarmo in charge he was never exposed to waivers 

>This year he has to play at least 13 games to avoid becoming a Group 6 free agent. Ellis had 14 starts and 16 appearances last year.

So what do the Sabres see in Colton Ellis? Future starter? 1B? Backup? Continuing 3rd wheel?  Trade bait?

 

 

Edited July 24 by PromoTheRobot

[GASabresIUFAN]

He is here to replace Lyon as the backup after Lyon’s contract expires after this coming season.

[TheAud]

He's here because UPL and Lyon will each be hurt for at least one stretch of this season and he'll capably fill in and get his 13 games to avoid losing him to Free Agency. 

Then next year, the Vezina. 

[transient]

29 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

This is a question no one has really asked. What is the plan for him going forward?

Consider:

>He was picked up on waivers when we already had Devon Levi.

>Even with Jarmo in charge he was never exposed to waivers 

>This year he has to play at least 13 games to avoid becoming a Group 6 free agent. Ellis had 14 starts and 16 appearances last year.

So what do the Sabres see in Colton Ellis? Future starter? 1B? Backup? Continuing 3rd wheel?  Trade bait?

I doubt they know yet. I think they see someone with more promise than what they thought they saw in Levi, and beyond that I think it’s TBD. 

[...]

 

[Big Guava]

Because he is better than Levi.

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He is here to replace Lyon as the backup after Lyon’s contract expires after this coming season.

This is the most logical conclusion. But it also means Ellis needs to play more this year to see if he can grow into that role. Are they considering a full 3-goalie rotation where each tender, barring injury, plays, backs up and is inactive every three games? 84 divided by 3 is 28 starts.

Edited July 24 by PromoTheRobot

[transient]

4 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

This is the most logical conclusion. But it also means Ellis needs to play more this year to see if he can still into that role. Are they considering a full 3-goalie rotation where each tender, barring injury, plays, backs up and is inactive every three games? 84 divided by 3 is 28 starts.

My own hope is that they go into the preseason and early regular season seeing if he can be the primary backup to UPL with Lyon getting a lesser share of the starts unless he falters. 

[Demoted]

 

 

[LGR4GM]

 

[Weave]

Sabres are ahead of the curve.  3 rostered goalies is the new shiny trend.

 

Until it isn’t. Or never was. Whatever.

[Night Train]

I'd rather see in net than UPL. 

[kas23]

He really should be the 1B this season, instead of the backup’s backup. Let Lyon sit more often as Lyon probably is better equipped to play a game after a long layoff than Ellis is. Let’s see what we have. He may even be better than UPL. 

[That Aud Smell]

I just had a flashback memory of how chaotic and scrambly Ellis is.

[transient]

4 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I just had a flashback memory of how chaotic and scrambly Ellis is.

Chaotic and scrambly is what you call some other team's goalie. When he plays for the team you're rooting for you call him a "battler". 😄

Edited July 24 by transient

[DarthEbriate]

Last season, until the playoffs, Ellis was always the dressed backup. It gave Lyon/Luukkonen entire days off to recover/relax between starts. Lyon seems to need this historically: he's an experienced backup, and he can get hot (he certainly did last season), but he wears down with the grind. Luukkonen has had 2 very good stretches in his career (2nd half 24-25, last season). They'll probably go with the same approach this year.

They'll ramp him up with more starts if the season allows (either they're great from the start or the season goes off the rails).

From Ellis' perspective, I'd be a bit upset in that I'm not getting games played to develop. (I'm fine with the NHL paycheck though.)

[...]

The three-goalie rotation, as implemented last year by the Sabres, clearly played a role in uplifting the performance of goaltenders who otherwise were/are expected to go through extended periods of poor performance. From my research, this particular model hasn't been used since the Leafs did it in the 70s.

Another season with the same players being used in the same manner would go an awful long way into determining just how effective this model of goaltender management is.

If it is proven effective, it could be another solution to "the goalie situation", an alternative to spending big bucks on those elusive top 5 goalies, where if you don't have one of the top 5, you're not a contender.

[Broken Ankles]

 

Jean-Paul Sartre argued that existence precedes essence.  So I would argue that the question isn’t WHY is he here, but rather what will he make of his time in Buffalo.  Nothing is predetermined. A player waived now has a chance to become a back up on a playoff contending team.  Your actions not your circumstances defines who you are. 

[dudacek]

A question worth exploring:

Did the Sabres goaltending falter in the playoffs because they deviated from the formula that worked in the regular season and tried to force a “workhorse” model?

Colten Ellis to me is a goalie version of Peyton Krebs: works hard, useful, I like having him around, but not someone I’m building around.

Edited July 24 by dudacek

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

This is the most logical conclusion. But it also means Ellis needs to play more this year to see if he can grow into that role. Are they considering a full 3-goalie rotation where each tender, barring injury, plays, backs up and is inactive every three games? 84 divided by 3 is 28 starts.

Don't forget, even if he isn't on pace to get to the 13 games for whatever reason, there is nothing (other than a possible desire to hit UFA) that prevents him from signing an extension during this season.  If he likes it here and knows he's at least the backup in '27-'28 with a legit chance to challenge whomever else is here, he MIGHT be willing to sign an extension.

Plus, as someone else said, expect they'll want to give Lyon some extra days off to keep from having the Habs series Lyon available to them come playoff time.  

13 games isn't that hard to get to.  Heck, Levi ended up with 9 games 2 seasons ago when he was barely in Buffalo at all.  

[SabresFan69420]

1 hour ago, kas23 said:

He really should be the 1B this season, instead of the backup’s backup. Let Lyon sit more often as Lyon probably is better equipped to play a game after a long layoff than Ellis is. Let’s see what we have. He may even be better than UPL. 

I agree he should be 1B, but Ellis put together some fantastic performances after LONG breaks last season. 
 

I think Ellis is simply the Levi replacement. So it would be whatever plan the Sabres had for Levi but just sub Levi for Ellis now 

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

A question worth exploring:

Did the Sabres goaltending falter in the playoffs because they deviated from the formula that worked in the regular season and tried to force a “workhorse” model?

Colten Ellis to me is a goalie version of Peyton Krebs: works hard, useful, I like having him around, but not someone I’m building around.

A legit question.  But the Bruins are still wondering "what if" had they run with Swayman in the playoffs that time he and Ullmark performed so well in the RS and then Linus pooped the bed in the playoffs after Swayman had a great game to start the playoffs.

They thought continuing to swap them was the way to go, and it turned out not to be.

If you lose, whatever you DIDN'T do is what you should've done.

 

And agree that with his limited resume, you shouldn't be building around him.  But you should find out what you have in him.  And you've got 84 games to work with.  2 more than usual.  No reason to not find out.

[GoPuckYourself]

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Last season, until the playoffs, Ellis was always the dressed backup. It gave Lyon/Luukkonen entire days off to recover/relax between starts. 

Yes. Once the three headed crease was solidified, it turned into exactly what you noted.  
 

Not sure if this was an analytics driven decision, but I’m leaving room for that.

The idea of not bothering to put your pads on the day after a game, or not having to be a tutor shooter for a game day skate, it all contributes to recovery and energy usage for when it matters most. 

[Doohickie]

COLTEN

with an E