It is a rare time in Buffalo where it feels like a steady presence has been found in their crease. Since his debut in a Sabres uniform, even up to their most recent defeat, Alex Lyon has been the steady hand between the pipes for them while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been recovering. In that time, he has shown some great poise, skill, and finesse to really claim the number one goaltending spot away from Luukkonen, and his confidence really shows.
Meanwhile, presumed starter Luukkonen had a shaky return that was reminiscent of his early years when he cracked under pressure and just couldn’t make a save when he really needed to. Between his own performance and others quickly ready to pass him on the depth chart, it is time to move on from the Finnish netminder.
Lyon and Ellis Are a Good Tandem
As the Sabres starter, Lyon has amassed a record of 3-4-1, a 2.77 goals-against average (GAA), a .919 save percentage (SV%), and has one shutout already on the season. That shutout came against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, and it was one of the most calm and collected performances this entire season out of the team. His presence in goal gives the players confidence, and it shows. He makes the saves when he needs to, and he has rarely given up a goal that would be considered “weak”. It is night and day the difference it makes to see how the Sabres play in front of him, and that is worth riding out as long as it is working.
The young goaltender that the Sabres picked up off waivers was Colten Ellis, and his arrival in Buffalo at the start of the season spelled the end to the Alexandar Georgiev preseason experiment, along with questions of whether he could handle playing in the NHL. Those questions got a fairly quick answer when he played his first NHL game and recorded his first win on the same night on Oct. 22 versus the Detroit Red Wings. He looked sharp on most of his plays, and the nerves were shaken right out of him. The team played a tough game in front of him as well, and even though he had to stop multiple breakaway attempts on some great Red Wings players, Ellis stood tall and proved he could hold his own as a backup goalie for now.
Luukkonen’s Struggles Run Deep
Luukkonen has struggled for years proving that he deserves to be the starting goaltender in Buffalo, and it has unfortunately shone through once again that he is not the clear choice. Time and time again, he tries to prove himself with good performances, and is overshadowed by either a terrible performance of his own doing or a stellar performance from another goalie on the Sabres roster. It happened with Devon Levi, Craig Anderson, and shortly with James Reimer, and now it is happening again with Lyon. His constant inability to claim the position that should be his has been frustrating as a fan, and it can only be worse for him.
Watching the Sabres play in front of him is noticeably different as well. The team is certainly trying to win, but they aren’t playing with the same confidence that they do with Lyon between the pipes. It looks like they do not trust Luukkonen and are overcompensating for what mistakes they assume he will make. His inconsistency in net, along with his classic inability to come up with the big save in big moments, has tormented them for a few seasons now, and it is time to move on, for both the player and the team’s sake.
Sabres’ Goaltending Future Is Bright Without Luukkonen
The Sabres will have to make a decision on their goaltending sooner rather than later. Luukkonen will not be happy being the presumed starter and being sat for Lyon, or Ellis long term, and they cannot keep all three goalies on their roster as a rotation. That is just a poor use of roster space, and it does not bode well for keeping a good goalie rotation. They should choose to move Luukkonen and keep Lyon and Ellis, as it would make the most sense team-wise and business-wise. Moving Luukkonen while keeping the other two gives the Sabres a little more cap flexibility by moving out his $4.75 million average annual value (AAV) while only needing to endure Lyon’s $1.5 million AAV and Ellis’ $775,000 AAV until the end of the 2026-27 season.
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Having that flexibility and timeframe gives their goalie of the future, Levi, his chance to take the crease in a reasonable amount of time without rushing him, while keeping solid goaltending in place for a bargain price. Would it be great to see Luukkonen bounce back and succeed in the Sabres’ crease? Yes, absolutely. Performing up to the high standard that is expected of him would be ideal, but he has unfortunately shown over and over that he does not perform under that pressure. He needs a fresh start somewhere else, and the Sabres need to move on to get rid of the lingering cloud hovering over them while he still sits on the roster.
