Speculation: Sabres moving on from Lehner

[Digable5]

I was furious with the trade from day 1. I have tried to not let it affect my judgement of his play, but I want to put all of my cards on the table since he is hopefully on his way out.

Lehner is a big guy and covers a lot of the net. In my opinion, that is the only reason his numbers are respectable and people might still consider him a viable option. I'm not saying that being big can't be the main attribute of a successful goalie, but his play was otherwise putrid. He constantly overplayed the puck and put himself out of position. He regularly lost sight of the puck behind the net. He was useless in a shootout if you just got him moving laterally. He didn't consistently challenge a shot at the right depth. Lehner was a hothead that could not have been good for the locker room.

I'm not going to say he was bad for the locker room or that the players he called out didn't deserve it, but someone of his ability should not be the one to point fingers. I guess that is why so many captains are one of the best players on the team. Otherwise, you would likely just point the fingers back at them.

His expected replacement, Ullmark, is huge, plays with good positioning and seems to have one of the better personalities in the organization. I think teammates like him and will want to play their best for him. I know that shouldn't be a thing at this level and with their paychecks, but I have experienced many bad work environments and think its only human to let it affect you.

Would love to get something for Lehner in a trade, but I'd be happy enough just to see him leave.

 

[Stickpucker]

Come to Carolina Lehner.

 

[Deku]

You know how deflating it is when your team is trying to win but your goalie lets in a softy every game because of pretty bad fundamentals. I am not sure if its Lehner or its on our goalie coach.

It's probably Lehner, he did the same in Ottawa. Would play well enough but then let in some of the most back-breaking goals you'll ever see. Just absolute stinkers that would ruin all momentum, if not lose us the game

 

[Heretic]

Threw his teammates under the bus to the press. Painted Go Trump or something on his mask at one point. Generally hot headed.

Yeah I agree with all of this being why I dislike him. Miller would get pissy but he had a much better style imo, you always knew he'd be thoughtful with his rage. I have no patience from random aggro alphabro goalie.

 

[Jay haller]

But Lehner is better than Crawford...

Well to be fair on HFBoards Crawford is absolutely terrible

 

[nickdawg95]

always liked him, outside of eichel he was the only player who spoke his mind, to be honest the team left him out to dry on most night and then fans would call for his head. but when the team would show up he'd let in a couple really bad ones and singlehandedly lose us the game.

he also is allergic to shootouts.

 

[Goalie guy]

Wings need a back up hmm.

 

[Toronto makebeleifs]

Kasdorf? I don't even think hes on the team anymore.

Ullmark is being primed to be the next goalie, I honestly see top 10 potential in him and I've been saying this for the last 3 years.

You guys have seen him more than me. I've caught a handful of Rochester games when they played against Toronto... But assuming a goalie with a handful of nhl games can be a starter is kinda scary. It would be nice to see him do well though as I live closer to buffalo than Toronto and would rather cross the border than pay a kidney for a leaf game

 

[Uberpecker]

It sucked in the abstract, and then it sucked more when we saw him play, and it sucked further when we got to know him personally.

Vogl loves him, though.

 

[Willis88]

Hello, Sabres of Buffalo fans! The Flyers of Philadelphia have a gently used Neuvirth you could have. Since you spent a 1st rd pick on Lehner, we'll only ask for a 5th in 2019. Thanks!

I remember in an interview that Giroux said he has the most fun chirping Lehner because of how mad Lehner reacts.

 

[Scott Stevens]

But Lehner is better than Crawford...

Was this a thing? Is this why @Blackhawkswincup is “look at me look at me” over this? A bit of hawks Sabres pee splashing when the deal happened?

 

[Ace]

You could have started this thread the day Murray was fired. Botterill wouldn't commit anything beyond the year to him and that was coming off of a very good statistical season.

 

[HawkeyTalkMan]

Was this a thing? Is this why @Blackhawkswincup is “look at me look at me” over this? A bit of hawks Sabres pee splashing when the deal happened?

No, someone on the Sabres fan side said last offseason that Lehner is essentially better because of contract, upside, 5v5 sv pct, hes never had a real team in front of him, Crawford always had a stacked team in front of him, yadda yadda,

it was a pointless convo all around

 

[danielpalfredsson]

I liked the trade for Buffalo when they made it. I think Lehner's upside at the time was similar to players taken around the late 1st round of the draft, and he was ready to start in the NHL. It's a similar risk to what Toronto did when they acquired Frederik Andersen, which I also liked. It's very hard to find a young consistent starter, so I don't begrudge GMs for being aggressive in that regard when the opportunity is there to get one.

 

[haseoke39]

I liked the trade for Buffalo when they made it. I think Lehner's upside at the time was similar to players taken around the late 1st round of the draft, and he was ready to start in the NHL. It's a similar risk to what Toronto did when they acquired Frederik Andersen, which I also liked. It's very hard to find a young consistent starter, so I don't begrudge GMs for being aggressive in that regard when the opportunity is there to get one.

Except Tim Murray had no idea how to scout goalies. He got the guy he'd seen the most at his old organization. When somebody asked him how he assesses goalie talent, he said it all seemed like a crapshoot so just go get the biggest Swede or Finn you could find. It would've been embarrassing for him, if he'd known to be embarrassed.

 

[WeDislikeEich]

Never in my life have I seen a worse goalie in the shootout or on breakaways.

Not even joking, He had a 0% shootout save percentage for the 2016 season. He literally did not even make 1 single save that year in any shootout the entire season.

It was actually comical how bad he was in the shootout, or on a breakaway. I think it got in his head or something, because there's no way any NHL goalie is That bad in the shootout...





It's a shame though, seeing what Buffalo gave up to get him.

Lehner was actually pretty good his first season here. He only played 21 games because of injury. But he put up a .924 sv% and a 2.47 GAA.
And then in 59 games (his first ever full season starting) in 2016 he had a
.920 sv% and 2.68 GAA.

Then he fell off a cliff last year with a .908 sv% and 3.01 GAA and was just generally bad, which is the only season Botterill has seen of Lehner.

He was actually capable of playing quite well for stretches. There were times he looked like a legit #1.
But he did have a habit of letting in back breaking softies. Or he would sometimes turn in an absolute stinker of a game. And as I said above, he was awful on any type of breakaway.

There were also some rumors he may not be too popular in the locker room.

And some took Botterill's seasons ending comments on Ullmark to be a bit of a shot at Lehner (I have no clue if they were or not...)

Botterill said something about how great Ullmark was in the locker room, and how he didn't care if he had a bad game as long as the team won. And he would be happy and celebrating with his teammates in the locker room (after he had a bad game and they still won).


Plus, it costs just over $4M just to qualify Lehner, and he already took a 1yr deal last year, so add everything up and I am not surprised Buffalo is moving on. I just hope thy can somehow recover some type of asset for him (which seem pretty doubtful).