Speculation: Is there a goalie out there that can help the Sabres?

[Sabre the Win]

On this interview that is a month old, he said he was staying in shape in case someone called.

It would be interesting if they threw a contract at him to see if he could help them.

I would 100% do this, send Dell back down and tell the team its not ok to lose and we will actively look for upgrades and better options. Even if Dubnyk doesn't work out, the message will still be sent. Time to instill a winning culture.

 

[LetsGoBuffalo1126]

I wonder for how long the Sabres will need the help for as well. Normally we're talking about a stop-gap while waiting for the permanent option to come from Rochester, but it just doesn't seem like UPL will be ready in the near (or distant?) future. I'm all-for this team going more heavily-invested into a goalie for the longer-ish term to help get these guys some of the wins that they may deserve.

 

[Jim Bob]

I would 100% do this, send Dell back down and tell the team its not ok to lose and we will actively look for upgrades and better options. Even if Dubnyk doesn't work out, the message will still be sent. Time to instill a winning culture.

If Dubnyk is worse than Dell, I fail to see how that instills a winning culture.

 

[LetsGoBuffalo1126]

UPL had 52 NA pro games entering this season and Adams spent the bare minimum on UFAs.

Add on top of it an NHL roster that is barely above the cap floor and I think the approach in goal fits the stage of team building that Adams felt the team was at heading into the year.

For example, look at the wingers that Cozens has had to play with. It's not like this is a Stanley Cup roster that is getting sunk by the goaltending. This is a "not a playoff team" roster that has a bad 3rd string goalie.

Agreed, and thus my question becomes now that the group in front of the goalie seem ahead of the curve, which direction does Adams go? Personally, I'd rather him invest a little into the position if the opportunity presents itself just to help with the growth of this young core.

 

[Old Navy Goat]

Agreed, and thus my question becomes now that the group in front of the goalie seem ahead of the curve, which direction does Adams go? Personally, I'd rather him invest a little into the position if the opportunity presents itself just to help with the growth of this young core.

He will in the off-season, even without budget increase he needs to spend money as Eakin, Miller, and Butcher + goalies are gone

 

[Jim Bob]

Agreed, and thus my question becomes now that the group in front of the goalie seem ahead of the curve, which direction does Adams go? Personally, I'd rather him invest a little into the position if the opportunity presents itself just to help with the growth of this young core.

And I doubt that "a little investment" will allow Adams to add a goalie that makes a meaningful difference this season.

 

[Buffaloed]

I'd see if Jhonas Enroth has any interest in coming back. He was always a decent goalie until his Leaf experience and continues to play well in Europe.
Jhonas Enroth Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

 

[Der Jaeger]

If Dubnyk is worse than Dell, I fail to see how that instills a winning culture.

So, here's my tinfoil hat theory:

If the Sabres are constantly getting outclassed, then that really screws with team chemistry, psyche, etc. But that really hasn't been happening. The Sabres out-played Toronto, and played with the Rangers and Columbus. The only game where they got shelled was Calgary, and they didn't look good for most of the West Coast trip. None of which is shocking or would crush a team.

The Sabres have lost three games solely because of goaltending, where they either matched or outclassed their opponent. Anderson has been pretty good, and Tokarski has been hot and cold. Dell has had some moments but is mostly not a NHL goalie. That's a pretty easy mental obstacle to overcome.

When the kids go home, they can at least rationalize that they outplayed an opponent but had crappy goaltending. That's a pretty easy thing to think. Not to get into the excuse game, but most skaters think nothing of a lost game because of goaltending.

So, Adams essentially does what Toronto did in 2016 to ensure a top pick. Toronto had Babcock as their coach, and a lot of their future roster on the team: Kadri, Rielly, Bozak, Gardiner, JVR, Komorov... They got Nylander into the mix a little bit. They kept Marner in London for that season.

The next season, the Leafs drafted Matthews, brought Marner up, signed Andersen and a couple key free agents, and switch some of their line-up. But it wasn't a tank roster, and didn't do anything to really hurt the team long term. The next season, playoffs.

We shall call this "The Garret Sparks" maneuver.

 

[Sabre the Win]

If Dubnyk is worse than Dell, I fail to see how that instills a winning culture.

I feel it doesn't need to be explained but since you love to play devils advocate; just by demoting a player from unacceptable play back down to the AHL and bringing someone in is telling the team that they can be replaceable if expectations are not met, that management will only accept hard work and a winning mindset.

And I doubt that "a little investment" will allow Adams to add a goalie that makes a meaningful difference this season.

I don't get why you think this team is downright bad, any team that scores 5 goals should easily win the game.

 

[Jim Bob]

I feel it doesn't need to be explained but since you love to play devils advocate; just by demoting a player from unacceptable play back down to the AHL and bringing someone in is telling the team that they can be replaceable if expectations are not met, that management will only accept hard work and a winning mindset.

You are not asking for hard work and a winning mindset. You are asking for results from the goalies that are more than reasonably be expected of the guys that Adams acquired heading into the season.

Management is viewing this with a longer view than you are. If they were all in for this year, Quinn and Peterka would be Cozens' linemates and not playing with Krebs in Rochester.

I don't get why you think this team is downright bad, any team that scores 5 goals should easily win the game.

The Sabres haven't lost a single game this year when scoring 5 goals.

 

[Jacob582]

Has Ben Bishop been practicing with the Stars since the beginning of the season?

 

[Chainshot]

Bishop might be a guy, though I suspect it would take some messaging to make sure Buffalo isn't on his no-trade list. Dallas doesn't seem to have the cap space to bring him back off LTIR, Buffalo has the space but is not the desired destination.

 

[Jim Bob]

Has Ben Bishop been practicing with the Stars since the beginning of the season?

From what he said recently on the InGoal Radio podcast, he has been with the team and skating on his own for a while.

 

[Jacob582]

Every game: play Tokarski in the first period. Put Dell in at the start of the second period.

 

[Chainshot]

Has Ben Bishop been practicing with the Stars since the beginning of the season?

He returned about two weeks ago, per the stories I found last night after the latest AHL-induced netminding fail.

 

[Gabrielor]

If he's willing, a PTO for Dubnyk would give him a chance, and send a message to Tokarski and Dell. I like that idea.

 

[old kummelweck]

This is a "not a playoff team" roster that has a bad 3rd string goalie.

I would argue they have 2 AHL goalies (both 3rd stringers) and busted on their Anderson chips, who is 40+ and of course he got injured.

I think you could argue that UPL, Levi, and Portillo are all in the same development phase. So what do you do for the next 2-3 years? There's a huge hole, and I personnaly wouldn't be trying to address the third string position. They should be shooting for an Ullmark that can bridge this team to the up-and-comers.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

*coughs* Yes there is

 

[Jim Bob]

I would argue they have 2 AHL goalies (both 3rd stringers) and busted on their Anderson chips, who is 40+ and of course he got injured.

I think you could argue that UPL, Levi, and Portillo are all in the same development phase. So what do you do for the next 2-3 years? There's a huge hole, and I personnaly wouldn't be trying to address the third string position. They should be shooting for an Ullmark that can bridge this team to the up-and-comers.

They didn't bust on Anderson.

Nobody in their right mind should have expected that Anderson was playing 50+ games this year.

They have gotten good goaltending from Anderson and Tokarski for the majority of the season so far. How quickly people forget the games where goaltending was the best part of the team on more than a couple of nights.

 

[joshjull]

They didn't bust on Anderson.

Nobody in their right mind should have expected that Anderson was playing 50+ games this year.

They have gotten good goaltending from Anderson and Tokarski for the majority of the season so far. How quickly people forget the games where goaltending was the best part of the team on more than a couple of nights.

Its amazing how fast they’ve forgotten.

Tokarski’s first 3 games he had no goal support. We scored a total of 4 goals in those games. If we were scoring then like we are now it would have been 3 wins not 1-1-1. He still managed to get us 3pts with a 2-1 shootout win and a 2-1 OT loss when he was shelled with 39 shots.

Then our last two wins were Tokarski playing great against the Oilers in a 3-2 win were he had to lock it down in the 3rd (Outshot 12-4). Then Pens game. 2–1 victory facing 46 shots. It was 20-3 in the 3rd for the Pens. That was only 4 games ago when posters were joking he was Hasek reincarnated.

 

[old kummelweck]

They didn't bust on Anderson.

Nobody in their right mind should have expected that Anderson was playing 50+ games this year.

They have gotten good goaltending from Anderson and Tokarski for the majority of the season so far. How quickly people forget the games where goaltending was the best part of the team on more than a couple of nights.

The goal tending isn't good enough and that's Adam's fault. He consistently hasn't addressed it appropriately in my opinion. That's my point. I'm not criticizing what was basically unsurprising performance of individual players in net or predictable injuries, I'm saying Adam's has fallen short in addressing this problem in the off-season, and continues to have a gaping hole in the net for the next 1-3 years until 1 of the three kids on the depth chart graduate.

So for me, spend an asset or two on an available mid-term solution that can move between starter and backup at some point this season or next summer. Dell, Anderson, Tokarski, Houser, or some other teams version of that is a no thank you.

 

[Jim Bob]

The goal tending isn't good enough and that's Adam's fault. He consistently hasn't addressed it appropriately in my opinion. That's my point. I'm not criticizing what was basically unsurprising performance of individual players in net or predictable injuries, I'm saying Adam's has fallen short in addressing this problem in the off-season, and continues to have a gaping hole in the net for the next 1-3 years until 1 of the three kids on the depth chart graduate.

So for me, spend an asset or two on an available mid-term solution that can move between starter and backup at some point this season or next summer. Dell, Anderson, Tokarski, Houser, or some other teams version of that is a no thank you.

I don't expect that kind of goalie to be made available in-season outside of Adams targeting an organizational 3rd young goalie that he can figure out a way to pry off their current team.

Miftakhov as payment for taking a contract off of TB might be one way to roll the dice on something like that.

Or figuring out a way to pry Wolf out of Calgary...

 

[member 334057]

Miftakhov as payment for taking a contract off of TB might be one way to roll the dice on something like that.

Or figuring out a way to pry Wolf out of Calgary...

Those 2 are unlikely to be going anywhere and will probably be in the NHL within the next season or 2. Elliott is a UFA next season and Miftakhov can likely hop into his place. Wolf they will probably allow another year or 2 in the AHL before deciding what to do between him and Vlader. That also doesn't provide any real NHL experience in net and is no different than the Sabres just rolling the dice on Levi or Portillo after the NCAA season ends as they are all around the same age.

 

[sabres4ever]

What if GMKA purposely planned on having theses goalies, and never trying to upgrade this season - almost guaranteeing a bottom 5 finish?

 

[Jim Bob]

What if GMKA purposely planned on having theses goalies, and never trying to upgrade this season - almost guaranteeing a bottom 5 finish?

If that was his plan, they are failing because Granato, the coaching staff, and the players have been too good.