On Monday, Terry Pegula and the Buffalo Sabres decided it was time to fire their general manager (GM), Kevyn Adams. They hired Jarmo Kekalainen as the team’s new GM, who was hired in the offseason as a senior advisor for Adams.
Kekalainen is the first GM since 1979 that the Sabres have hired with prior experience, who was Scotty Bowman. Kekalainen is expected to be aggressive in making moves and to help the Sabres make the playoffs, including making a big decision on the team’s goaltending for this season and beyond.
Kekalainen to Make Decision on Goaltending Soon
The Sabres have had a three-goalie rotation for the entire season, ever since they claimed Colten Ellis off waivers from the St. Louis Blues right before the season started. He’s been solid for them, recording a 3.25 goals-against average (GAA) and a .895 save percentage (SV%) in four games played. Unfortunately, he has missed the last two weeks due to an injury he suffered in a 4-3 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec 9.
One of the other goaltenders is Alex Lyon, whom the Sabres signed in the offseason to a two-year contract. In 18 games this season, he’s posted a 2.99 GAA, a .904 SV%, and a 7-6-3 record. The other goaltender is Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who, in 10 games played, has recorded a 2.91 GAA and a .884 SV%.
Between the three goaltenders, Lyon has been the best of the three, but it seems he could be the odd man out pretty soon. Kekalainen, in his introductory press conference, talked about the three-goalie rotation and said, “We’re probably to a point where we’re going to have to start making decisions to get down to a two-goalie rotation.
“…I think we’ve all talked about it, pretty much every day, that it’s not the ideal situation to have three for the workload they get in practice, for the rotation, the amount of games they get if there’s three goalies,” He continued, “But we also picked up Ellis for a reason, because we felt that there was upside there to become a real good NHL goalie. We had a little bit of an injury situation back then that we needed to protect ourselves depth-wise.”
Kekalainen clearly feels there is a move to be made regarding the goaltending situation, and it could come sooner than you think. There have been reports that the Sabres have been discussing a potential trade that would send Lyon to the Edmonton Oilers.
Elliotte Friedman confirmed part of those reports on his latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. He mentioned how Lyon is “probably the guy” to be traded to end the goaltender rotation.
Is Lyon the Right Goaltender to Part Ways With?
Lyon, who has been the Sabres’ best goaltender so far this season, gives the Sabres a chance to win every time he is in the net. Looking at it from that perspective, some would ask, “Why would the Sabres trade their best goaltender if he helps them win games?”
Related: Sabres’ GM Kekalainen Can Make Impact with 3 Simple Moves
In the short term, I would agree with the question. Still, with Kekalainen wanting to go back to a two-goaltender rotation soon, Lyon has the highest trade value of the three goaltenders in the short term, especially to a team like the Oilers, who, even though they just traded for Tristan Jarry (who has now been placed on injured reserve), could always use a proven backup goaltender like Lyon.
The Oilers are a Stanley Cup contender, and I believe that they are a goaltender away from getting over the hump and getting a championship. Calvin Pickard has not been good for them, and with Jarry injured, once the roster freeze ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 28, it will be the perfect time for them to trade for Lyon from the Sabres.
As far as the long-term, he is clearly the one goaltender to be traded. At 33 years old, he is not a part of the Sabres’ future plans, whereas Luukkonen is 26 years old and Ellis is 25 years old. Kekalainen can have both of them be a tandem for the foreseeable future.
One thing to note is that there’s more to long-term goaltending than just trading Lyon this season. Goaltender Devon Levi, who is still developing in the American Hockey League (AHL), could be ready for the NHL soon. They also have 19-year-old goaltending prospect Yevgeni Prokhorov, who is tearing up the MHL (Russia’s top junior league) with a SV% of .940 in 17 games played.
Kekalainen has a few tough decisions to make regarding the goaltender. Known for making aggressive moves and improving rosters, even if he trades Lyon, I am putting all my trust in him as the GM who gets the Sabres into the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
