There are a few (very few) teams that come to mind when talking about a starting goalie....Buffalo isn't one of them.
I disagree. When I see Buffalo, I see a younger Dallas team. Dallas is hampered by their goaltending. Neither Lehtonen nor Niemi are taking them to a cup despite having the roster to do so.
I just do not see Lehner as being the starting goalie Buffalo needs to make a big jump.
Regardless of the views on MAF, Buffalo is not competing seriously any time soon unless Lehner has an explosive break out season. MAF is a goalie that helps you fills the gaps in coverages. He's the goalie that helps you make up for errors on defense. Sure, he wasn't a rock in 3 playoff seasons a couple years ago but in 14 and 15, he was the least of the Penguins issues. This past year was a big reason (arguably THEE reason) the Penguins didn't fall further out of contention that they did. Flat out, MAF will win you games the team has no business winning. Can Lehner?
Now don't forget, teams bring in 1B's or high value backups all the time. Florida brought in Reimer...Blues ran Elliot and Allen (and hell even Halak!)...Ducks has Gibson and Andersen...Wings have Mzarek and Howard...Canucks ran Schneider and Luongo...so stop acting like brining in another starting goalie ESPECIALLY on a team like Buffalo, is just so illogically unheard of that it hurts the hockey's ears.
I'd do this easy if I was PIT. You have E.Kane for the season, and if he gets his **** together you have another top 6 winger. If he doesn't get his **** together you bench him and tell him to stay home and away from the team - then in June you buy him out. Because he's still young, it's very cheap to do so at 1/3rd of his contract.
2017/18 penalty: $250,000
2018/19 penalty: $1,000,000
That's a pretty easy hit to handle if it doesn't work out - and certainly cheaper than buying out MAF.
But I agree that it doesn't make much sense for BUF.
I'm not so much worried about the on ice as the off ice. I'm not sure the Penguins are the kind of organization that want Kane's antics tied to it. If you could lock him away in a closet between games and practices, sure why not. Worse things than to have a gritty LW in the system. His off ice antics are just too much for me though.