Is our goaltending good enough

[GoPuckYourself]

9 hours ago, SabreFinn said:

As I have understood the situation, UPL has a NTC, and Winnipeg is on his list. Meaning the trade for Hellebuyck will never happen. That’s why I think a more likely trade partner is Minnesota, who need cap space and has a coming Vezina in Wallstedt. By trading Gustavsson for UPL we get an upgrade and Wild get both cap space and a decent back-up. Win-Win.

There was plenty of time to trade him before that kicked in, also the fact that he got a NTC in the first place is ridiculous. Gustavsson seems more like a lateral move rather than a true upgrade imo. 

[SabreFinn]

3 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

There was plenty of time to trade him before that kicked in, also the fact that he got a NTC in the first place is ridiculous. Gustavsson seems more like a lateral move rather than a true upgrade imo. 

Gustavsson had hip surgery after the season ended and won't be back until November, I heard. I expect him to be back in the same shape as when he is  at his best, and at his best he is a better goalie than UPL, and definitely more consistent. 

And agree on the NTC, there wasn't any need to give him that. 

[SabresFan69420]

53 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

Gustavsson had hip surgery after the season ended and won't be back until November, I heard. I expect him to be back in the same shape as when he is  at his best, and at his best he is a better goalie than UPL, and definitely more consistent. 

And agree on the NTC, there wasn't any need to give him that. 

I think consistency is the most important part. 
 

How many times has UPL let in a softy early in the game and the team just collapses because they know it’s going to be one of UPL’s bad games

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, SabresFan69420 said:

I think consistency is the most important part. 
 

How many times has UPL let in a softy early in the game and the team just collapses because they know it’s going to be one of UPL’s bad games

Alternatively, how many times did that happen last year?

[SabresFan69420]

21 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Alternatively, how many times did that happen last year?

Only a handful, which is an improvement for sure. 

I think the goalie rotation really covered a lot of the consistency issues up. As soon as UPL was “the guy” in the playoffs his wheels mostly fell off. You can’t argue that he’s an absolute athletic specimen and has insane talent, but the dudes soft like warm butter mentally
 

 

[Night Train]

I go back to Grant Fuhr ..The Savior many proclaimed..look at that resume ! 

..866 and 3.60 with the Sabres. 

 

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Night Train said:

I go back to Grant Fuhr ..The Savior many proclaimed..look at that resume ! 

..866 and 3.60 with the Sabres. 

 

Many, not all.  

THEY ALREADY HAD HASEK ON THE ROSTER!!!!

Muckler had NO IDEA what he had.  

[PerreaultForever]

16 hours ago, SabreFinn said:

That is true, I still think we need to get UPLs salary of the books if we go for Hellebuyck and I just don't see a good fit if it isn't a goalie for a goalie swap. 

Preferrable, but not essential. If Quinn is part of the package I think your salary issue is no big deal and you also remove the pending Quinn salary question for next year. I mean I guess the details all matter but the impact is huge and immediate if you make the deal.

14 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

And yet, a goalie like Swayman can be outplayed by a journeyman like Alex Lyon. 

He wasn't. Bruins were outplayed by Sabres but they had the better goaltending. 

[PerreaultForever]

12 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Remember the Islanders dynasty teams?  Chico Resch was excellent in the regular season and he split the net with Billy Smith.  In the playoffs Billy was the man, he was clutch.   

Agreed. I thought of Billy Smith in my first post but decided not to mention him. He was definitely playoff clutch. Also the master of the net front butt end for anyone who got in his crease 🙂

Roy and Brodeur were both good in the regular season but also elevated in the playoffs. One of the Montreal cups was all Roy as he won clutch game after clutch game in OT and with close scores. Without him they were nothing. 

You can get unexpected runs from the unexpected ordinary goalie like Bussi just did. Tim Thomas outplayed Luongo in the Bruins cup run and then karma had Binnington outplay Rask in the St. Louis victory as examples. So UPL COULD, but I wouldn't want to bank on it. 

[Archie Lee]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Preferrable, but not essential. If Quinn is part of the package I think your salary issue is no big deal and you also remove the pending Quinn salary question for next year. I mean I guess the details all matter but the impact is huge and immediate if you make the deal.

[Lyon] wasn't [better than Swayman in the first  round]. Bruins were outplayed by Sabres but [Swayman was better than Lyon]. 

In their 4 head to head starts, Lyon allowed 4.02 fewer goals than expected and had a .951 save %. Swayman allowed 2.61 more goals than expected and had a .889 save %.  Even if you take away the disastrous game 4 (which would be ridiculous to do), Lyon's #'s were still better.

 

[Pimlach]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Agreed. I thought of Billy Smith in my first post but decided not to mention him. He was definitely playoff clutch. Also the master of the net front butt end for anyone who got in his crease 🙂

Roy and Brodeur were both good in the regular season but also elevated in the playoffs. One of the Montreal cups was all Roy as he won clutch game after clutch game in OT and with close scores. Without him they were nothing. 

You can get unexpected runs from the unexpected ordinary goalie like Bussi just did. Tim Thomas outplayed Luongo in the Bruins cup run and then karma had Binnington outplay Rask in the St. Louis victory as examples. So UPL COULD, but I wouldn't want to bank on it. 

You can even say that Eddie Belfour rose to the occasion and outplayed Hasek in the Sabres last SC final, and that was painful because Hasek played well.  Belfour beat Roy in that playoff too.  

After seeing Hellebuyck win a Gold in the Olympics, and he was the difference between the two teams, I still hold hope we can get him without breaking the bank.   When was the last time a star veteran player wanted to come to Buffalo?  

[PerreaultForever]

10 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

In their 4 head to head starts, Lyon allowed 4.02 fewer goals than expected and had a .951 save %. Swayman allowed 2.61 more goals than expected and had a .889 save %.  Even if you take away the disastrous game 4 (which would be ridiculous to do), Lyon's #'s were still better.

 

As I said earlier, it's not about stats, it's about when and where and at what moments. If you think Lyon outplayed Swayman good for you. We see hockey very differently. 

[PerreaultForever]

10 hours ago, Pimlach said:

You can even say that Eddie Belfour rose to the occasion and outplayed Hasek in the Sabres last SC final, and that was painful because Hasek played well.  Belfour beat Roy in that playoff too.  

After seeing Hellebuyck win a Gold in the Olympics, and he was the difference between the two teams, I still hold hope we can get him without breaking the bank.   When was the last time a star veteran player wanted to come to Buffalo?  

True, Belfour had a clutch run there for sure. 

See it all boils down to this for me. As is, we should be a young often exciting team that can win a lot of games and maybe some playoff games. Not sure it can get much farther than it did last year though. If you added Helleybuck, and say you lost Quinn, Östlund or Kulich, Mrtka maybe and some or other draft pick I'd look at this team and think hey, we might still be a long shot but we could potentially win the cup if some things go right. That's the difference and why I'm set on this idea. 

He also fits as your star goalie while Tage is signed to the low contract. It's a perfect fit and scenario.