Player Discussion All Purpose Goaltending Thread

[The Blunder Years]

Would love Hellebucyk if the price is right, but he is one year from UFA. I can’t realistically see them signing him to a big long term contract with Levi now in the plans. I think there are options that make more sense where we wouldn’t have to deal premium assets and commit long term.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Again, it all comes down to me that we had one average goalie and two bad ones last season. Can UPL improve with improved defense? Probably, but also it may not improve and we will again suck because of the goaliess. I just don't see the point in taking that risk. We have assets and a place in the cap, improve defense and improve goalie, that's all.

I’ll never claim to be a goalie expert but UPL just doesn’t look the part. Looks slow.

Also I was listening to someone on WGR and they mentioned his career save %. It’s rarely been good anywhere in his entire hockey career.

 

[Jim Bob]

Go get a 28-30 year old Craig Anderson that can play 50 games and give us .910+ save %.

Not too much to ask for.

That is a lot to ask for.

There were less than 10 of those goalies in the entire NHL this season.

 

[Fjordsen]

That is a lot to ask for.

View attachment 709356

There were less than 10 of those goalies in the entire NHL this season.

Helle, Saros and Vanecek in list

 

[Jim Bob]

This is where we disagree.

Steve Yzerman tried to get a starting goalie. He went out and got Nedelkovic, that didn't work. So he went out and got Husso. That was a little better, but still not ideal. They are probably on the market for a goalie still this summer.

That is trying to solve the goalie issue. Yzerman hasn't been successful yet, but that is trying. Edmonton signing Campbell to a meh contract...that is TRYING to fix the goalie issue, even if its unsuccessful.

Adams has been a GM for 2 full offseasons going into last summer. He knows Buffalo isn't a destination, especially for goalies. So the idea that he 'tried' via UFA and a goalie with a NTC. That'd be like me @'d Taylor Swift and Gizelle on twitter and asking for a date. Technically I could say I TRIED to date them, but I would be laughed at heartily if anyone pressed me for details.

Going out and getting a guy who was a 41 year old taxi squad goalie and a career backup waiver bait goalie to resolve the need isn't trying. That's hoping the goalie situation will just kind of figure itself out.

Comrie = Ned

This is the Husso summer.

And Adams can't make guys sign here. Murray said no. A different UFA reportedly said no.

Adams has tried stuff. And like Edmonton and Detroit, he is still looking. Levi is the future. The key will be finding a solid bridge guy for the next 2-3 years.

Helle, Saros and Vanecek in list

I don't think Nashville moves Saros. Hellebuyck is going to cost more in a trade than I expect Adams will give up. And Vanecek just got benched for a rookie in the playoffs.

 

[Jim Bob]

I'm sorry, but I just don't believe in this nonsense anymore. Anderson looked normal for his age. So far, Ullmark has looked good. Of course, someone from this extended list may not fit, there are dubious options, but I think there are good goalies here who have more good games in the NHL than Comrie and UPL combined.

Half of the Sabres' defense could change, even the game system could change. One of Samsonov's goals and what does he say to me?

It's about style of play and what a goalie is good at.

The Sabres give up a lot of those types of plays. If they add a goalie, like Samsonov, that struggles on those east to west plays, it will be bad. That was one reason why UPL struggled at times. He is a big bodied goalie that is not elite at either reading the play (like Anderson) or skating (like Levi). To be successful behind this team you need to be elite at one of those two areas, and preferably both.

Fit matters.

It's similar to why I think the Erik Karlsson to play with Power is a bad idea. He's a talented player who is not a fit for what the Sabres need.

 

[Fjordsen]

I don't think Nashville moves Saros. Hellebuyck is going to cost more in a trade than I expect Adams will give up. And Vanecek just got benched for a rookie in the playoffs.

I don't mind paying for Helle, he is stable and a very good goalie. Devils is interested in Helle, maybe Vanecek will be available then. Even though I wanted Adams to trade him from Caps and I've talked about it many times.

It's about style of play and what a goalie is good at.

The Sabres give up a lot of those types of plays. If they add a goalie, like Samsonov, that struggles on those east to west plays, it will be bad. That was one reason why UPL struggled at times. He is a big bodied goalie that is not elite at either reading the play (like Anderson) or skating (like Levi). To be successful behind this team you need to be elite at one of those two areas, and preferably both.

Fit matters.

It's similar to why I think the Erik Karlsson to play with Power is a bad idea. He's a talented player who is not a fit for what the Sabres need.

Will the Sabres also be giving up moments like this a lot next season? I don't know. Then Adams has some criteria for finding a goaltender. Although, again, I'm not sure about all this, because the team can change, the system, the tactics of the game.

Let's assume that Adams is really interested in Helle. But they tell me here that he is not suitable for Buffalo because of the game system and such moments. So Adams doesn't understand what he's doing? Did the analytics notice this? Murray fit the system? Gibson? Because Adams wanted them a year ago. Some kind of UFA in front of Comrie, who refused (I also wonder what kind of goalie he was).

In general, I understand, but still do not fully trust this.

 

[Fjordsen]

I just want to understand this funny thing. So we can now trade for Jack Campbell or Cal Petersen and they will probably thrive in the Granato system?

 

[Weltschmerz]

That is a lot to ask for.

View attachment 709356

There were less than 10 of those goalies in the entire NHL this season.

And 3 from the 9 could keep those numbers up in the playoffs, 1 (Saros) didn't make it, the rest more or less fell apart.

 

[Sabre Dance]

That is a lot to ask for.

View attachment 709356

There were less than 10 of those goalies in the entire NHL this season.

Any of them available?

Since you’re being difficult on this topic, how about 40 games? Also let’s go back a couple years. Maybe they did it within the last 3 years. Still young enough to do it again. I need them to be able to play more than half the games and able to put up .910.

I’ll be ok with 39 games and .905 save %. Basically, get a true number 1 goalie. A goalie that it wouldn’t surprise people if he played good.

 

[Club]

Whoever we get or not, I still think Levi starts the season in the A. Let him simmer.

 

[Fjordsen]

Any of them available?

Since you’re being difficult on this topic, how about 40 games? Also let’s go back a couple years. Maybe they did it within the last 3 years. Still young enough to do it again. I need them to be able to play more than half the games and able to put up .910.

I’ll be ok with 39 games and .905 save %. Basically, get a true number 1 goalie. A goalie that it wouldn’t surprise people if he played good.

I'd call Philly about Hart. He's RFA in a year and you'll have a lot of options with this. I think he's a good goalie, he'll be 25 in a few months, a lot of NHL games.

 

[SharkInABoloTie]

Whoever we get or not, I still think Levi starts the season in the A. Let him simmer.

I was going to say, even Miller had some time in the A. The quality of play/shot from college to NHL is dramatic. I had an acquaintance who played in college and he dominated in our pick up inline games. He was so good I asked him if he could have made it on an AHL roster. He laughed in my face and thanked me for the compliment.

Devon could use the year in Roch.

 

[Zman5778]

Any of them available?

Since you’re being difficult on this topic, how about 40 games? Also let’s go back a couple years. Maybe they did it within the last 3 years. Still young enough to do it again. I need them to be able to play more than half the games and able to put up .910.

I’ll be ok with 39 games and .905 save %. Basically, get a true number 1 goalie. A goalie that it wouldn’t surprise people if he played good.

He's not being difficult. You're trying to make it sound easy to get a "true number 1 goalie"....when in fact it is absolutely not.

There are not enough "true number 1" goalies to man all 32 teams in the NHL..........and when a team gets 1, it holds onto it for dear life.

The best way to get a true number 1 goalie is to develop him. We're all hoping that's Levi. Whether or not he'll be able to do it in 23/24 is yet to be seen.

 

[TehDoak]

Comrie = Ned

While the number of starts is similar....the stat line is not

Alex Nedeljkovic (2017-2021) vs. Eric Comrie (2017-2022): Head-to-Head Stats Comparison | Stathead.com

Compare Players: Check out the head-to-head stats of Alex Nedeljkovic (2017-2021) and Eric Comrie (2017-2022) including their awards, honors, championships, playoff and regular season stats, and much more on Stathead.com

stathead.com

Ned had an outstanding finish to the season. Ned passed through waivers once with no real track record and then got hot to finish the season. To the point he was Carolina's playoff starter. Detroit also had Greiss to fall back on.

Comrie had been claimed on waivers FOUR times in two years and then waived again after these goalie desperate teams saw him up close.

With Ned, there was potential upside. With Comrie....there never was. Detroit had Greiss to platoon him with....we had Anderson.

This is the Husso summer.

And Adams can't make guys sign here. Murray said no. A different UFA reportedly said no.

But again, Adams, if he had a shred of common sense, would know that that NTCs and viable starter grade UFAs were not going to be a viable option given the state of the team. He needed to get out of ahead of the markets and secure something before the July 1. He didn't.

Adams has tried stuff. And like Edmonton and Detroit, he is still looking.

He hasn't though....that's the problem. He's waited to closing time and took home whoever was left.

Levi is the future.

Levi is a prospect. Plenty of better prospects never became viable NHL starters.

The key will be finding a solid bridge guy for the next 2-3 years.

In an ideal world:

Dump Comrie, find a reasonable veteran upgrade
Levi to Rochester
UPL gets splits starts with the vet and we bring up Levi for starts as he's earned them by his play in Rochester.

 

[Weltschmerz]

Ned became Canes playoff starter, because their original starter was this guy:

 

[Sabre Dance]

He's not being difficult. You're trying to make it sound easy to get a "true number 1 goalie"....when in fact it is absolutely not.

There are not enough "true number 1" goalies to man all 32 teams in the NHL..........and when a team gets 1, it holds onto it for dear life.

The best way to get a true number 1 goalie is to develop him. We're all hoping that's Levi. Whether or not he'll be able to do it in 23/24 is yet to be seen.

I don’t think GMs want to give what it’ll take to get one.

I’m not talking one of the top 10 goalies from last year. Maybe one comes available, if so then go all in. I want someone capable of those numbers.

What we need is someone in the middle, maybe they struggled last year. Someone that’s proven they can handle the work load and also put up good numbers. That guy might have had a couple down seasons recently but still has years left in their prime.

 

[Weltschmerz]

I don’t think GMs want to give what it’ll take to get one.

I’m not talking one of the top 10 goalies from last year. Maybe one comes available, if so then go all in. I want someone capable of those numbers.

What we need is someone in the middle, maybe they struggled last year. Someone that’s proven they can handle the work load and also put up good numbers. That guy might have had a couple down seasons recently but still has years left in their prime.

Go all in for a goalie, who was the last one who did that?

 

[Diaspora]

[ . . . ]
There are not enough "true number 1" goalies to man all 32 teams in the NHL..........and when a team gets 1, it holds onto it for dear life. [ . . . ]

I dunno. Hart, Hellebuyck, Saros, Demko, Ullmark. If you look on the main boards, they're dropping out of the sky like bags of wet cement.

 

[Weltschmerz]

The solution is pretty easy, we just have to somehow get Lou Lamoriello from the Islanders, last I heard their fans didn't like that they offered him a multi year extensions because he is like 80.

If we pay him more he will fix our goaltending, he even did that for the leafs, also know as biggest goaltending graveyard in the NHL. He even got Robin Lehner going, let's just hire him, he will do it.

 

[Chainshot]

I dunno. Hart, Hellebuyck, Saros, Demko, Ullmark. If you look on the main boards, they're dropping out of the sky like bags of wet cement.

In terms of proposals by fans? Sure. We aren't seeing a lot of proven netminders moving around in trade or UFA though even back through last year - it was potential guys (Georgiev, Gustavsson) or guys with questions (Fleury, Talbot, Murray, Campbell).

 

[Zman5778]

I dunno. Hart, Hellebuyck, Saros, Demko, Ullmark. If you look on the main boards, they're dropping out of the sky like bags of wet cement.

I haven't seen one actually move. And of that list, I'd be shocked if more than one of them moved.....I expect none of them to actually be moved.

 

[joshjull]

It will be interesting if they go with the 3 headed monster they currently have.

From the development side.

Pros
-Neither UPL nor Levi would have to carry a starters workload/unless they forced it
-Levi can easily get sent back down with 2 goalies still here.
-UPL and Levi have untapped upside that might benefit from them pushing each other.
Cons
-Neither Levi nor UPL would get the practice reps they normally would with just 2 goalies. I don‘t know if there is a way to work around that.
-Injuries would complicate things.

From a “trying to win” perspective

Pros
-None of the 3 goalies will be burdened with the starters workload. Reducing the pressure on them individually
-Levi and UPL have untapped upside as stated above.
Cons
-We don’t know if we can get a good 25-30 game season out of any of them. Let alone all 3 of them.
-There is a very real possibility at least one of them will struggled badly. Which could blow up the pros I listed
-Injuries could also blow up the pros

On scale that ranges from Disaster to working out. Going with the 3 headed monster could fall anywhere. Yeehaw!!!!

 

[Fezzy126]

I haven't seen one actually move. And of that list, I'd be shocked if more than one of them moved.....I expect none of them to actually be moved.

I agree, it's really hard to envision any of these guys realistically moving.

• Saros - If he moves it's because Nashville will be looking for a major influx of pipeline resources to kickstart a quick reboot, because he's their best trade chip and they have Askarov coming up. It would probably take one of our top level prospects to start the conversation, and I don't think that's Rosen or Ostlund.
• Hellebyuck - Winnipeg is an extremely talented team that was going punch for punch with Vegas until they unraveled with injuries. There's something that is not quite right with their core and they'll have to figure it out, but once the emotions calm down from this playoff loss I think they continue to tweak and build around the talent that they have, which includes Helle.
• Hart - Philly gave up Bob and he immediately won a Vezina, then they went into goalie purgatory for a decade. I'd be shocked if they gave up on another talented young goalie.
• Ullmark - He's not going anywhere for all the reasons listed previously in this thread, and even if did, he doesn't come in a package with Boston's system.
• Demko - He was untouchable a year ago, him and Oettinger were on track to become the league's next wave of elite goalies. I doubt that Vancouver is going to overreact to one injury-riddled season.

I still think we go into next season with Levi/UPL/Comrie.

 

[Jim Bob]

Another team building out a goalie specific department.