I'm not a huge fan of either, but Hill is clearly a better goalie than Anderson, even behind a terrible Arizona team he has much better numbers than Anderson has had the last few years.
It isn't that Hill is great, it's that Anderson is baaaaaad.
Speculation: The New And Improved Goaltending Thread - All Goats Tended
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I'm not a huge fan of either, but Hill is clearly a better goalie than Anderson, even behind a terrible Arizona team he has much better numbers than Anderson has had the last few years.
It isn't that Hill is great, it's that Anderson is baaaaaad.
WhereAreTheCookies
Registered User
If Hill was available prior to the draft then it would have made sense, but Grier wasn't even brought in until after they had re-signed Anderson.
I mentioned I had a bit of an issue with them signing Anderson prior to the draft, but that's kind of moot at this point. It seems like they chose to take the guy they knew they could get instead of rolling the dice in trying to find multiple goalies via trade or UFA. It was probably the safer path in Adams view.
The issue being here, is signing a goalie of Anderson's quality to play any games is already the worst case scenario. Nobody else was signing Anderson. There's a serious disconnect with reality when it comes to goaltending and this front office, for whatever reason.
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Sabres sign Luukkonen to 2-year contract | Buffalo Sabres
Goaltender posted .917 save percentage in 9 games with Buffalo last season
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Deep Blue Metallic
Bo knows hockey.
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Among the best crop of forward prospects in the league. Reasonably good chance for a top-5 defense in coming seasons. But goaltending is an enormous question mark.
The 1-way in the 2nd season of UPL's contract implies the Sabres believe he can be at least a serviceable NHL backup in 23/24 and that Anderson will have finally retired. At $925K it's not a huge risk, but UPL certainly hasn't demonstrated NHL worthiness yet.
Ideally he has a healthy, productive season this year in Rochester, and him and Comrie form a quality tandem starting in 23/24. If both flop this season, certainly not an impossibility, goaltending will be the weakness that could well jeopardize playoff contention in the next.
Then it's back to the trade market where Adams failed this summer, and keeping fingers crossed that one or both of Levi and Portillo sign, prove NHL capability, and do so quicker than should be expected.
After thinking through the implications of UPL's contract, I'm suddenly a lot less confident in the team's chances.
The 1-way in the 2nd season of UPL's contract implies the Sabres believe he can be at least a serviceable NHL backup in 23/24 and that Anderson will have finally retired. At $925K it's not a huge risk, but UPL certainly hasn't demonstrated NHL worthiness yet.
Ideally he has a healthy, productive season this year in Rochester, and him and Comrie form a quality tandem starting in 23/24. If both flop this season, certainly not an impossibility, goaltending will be the weakness that could well jeopardize playoff contention in the next.
Then it's back to the trade market where Adams failed this summer, and keeping fingers crossed that one or both of Levi and Portillo sign, prove NHL capability, and do so quicker than should be expected.
After thinking through the implications of UPL's contract, I'm suddenly a lot less confident in the team's chances.
Deep Blue Metallic
Bo knows hockey.
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Absolutely prescient, JB. Kudos.
Do you believe he will have earned that 1-way by opening night 23/24? I have my doubts.
Am I being unfair or impatient here? UPL just turned 23 in March, and his development has certainly been hampered by injury, although that itself is a concern.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
If all goes according to plan, Comrie will be a good, or better, NHL #1 in 23-24. All UPL will need to be is a good back up that plays 20-25 games. I think there is a good chance that he is fine in that role in 23-24. So, I have no concerns about the one way in 23-24 part of the deal.
UPL is really hard to figure out. His numbers in the minors have not popped, at all. But, he was the best goalie the Sabres had in 21-22, albeit in a really small sample size due to the LBI.
The Amerks were really, really bad defensively last season. So, I am more worried about UPL's ability to stay healthy than I am with his ability to stop pucks.
WhereAreTheCookies
Registered User
Going to his numbers in Rochester last season he finished out with a .900 which is sadly still better than any Sabres goalie last season other than UPL himself and Housers 2 games. Even if that's all he posts with the Sabres next year, It could very well still be an upgrade on the back-up.
If he's not better than Anderson and ready for the NHL this year, Sabres will be a bottom 10 team. Everybody will point to Anderson's W-L record but he is terrible. His expected goals are bad bad bad and will only be worse. It's mind-blowing if Craig plays any more than 10 games in the NHL this year.
Jacob582
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Oh, Craig will play more than 10 games this season. He needs to earn his performance bonus.
Jacob582
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I agree here. UPL hasn't proven he is ready for an NHL job. He could have seized a job last year in training camp and didn't. Played some NHL games and got hurt. They needed him for the AHL playoffs and he got hurt. Wasn't he hurt in the spring of 2021 also? He needs to show that they can rely on him to be healthy.
I think Anderson stays healthy and plays more than we expect. And I think Comrie is eased into being the #1
Comrie 40
Anderson 25
UPL 17
I know 25 sounds like a lot for CA. But he will make 2 million with the performance bonus and thats more than Comries 1.8. He won't lose the trust and confidence of the coaching staff and will walk away from the game with maybe 10 more wins.
23/24 will be interesting as far as the Comrie/UPL competition
Comrie 40
Anderson 25
UPL 17
I know 25 sounds like a lot for CA. But he will make 2 million with the performance bonus and thats more than Comries 1.8. He won't lose the trust and confidence of the coaching staff and will walk away from the game with maybe 10 more wins.
23/24 will be interesting as far as the Comrie/UPL competition
brian_griffin
"Eric Cartman?"
Agreed. But, if UPL isn't fully Sabres-ready next year, he won't break the bank on the 1-way in Rochester. Alternatively, if either UPL or Comrie stink it up badly this season, either could be traded easily this offseason to a cap-strapped team with a better caliber #2 goalie on a worse contract.
Yes, the Sabres goaltending plan is the biggest question mark / biggest risk, but they've taken steps to mitigate.
45 goalies had NHL SV% >/= 0.910 last season.
32 of those 45 played 19 or more games (Comrie played 19, intentionally used as a cutoff).
34 of those 45 played 9 or more games (UPL played 9, intentionally used as a cutoff).
UPL was the youngest of all of them, Swayman and Oettinger a year older.
Separate from the age sort, only a dozen of those 45 who played 9 or more games had a SV% equal to or higher than 0.917.
There are only about a dozen really good NHL goalies, IMO, so not every playoff team will have one, and not all those good goalies are on playoff teams.
Sabres gave up 290 goals last season: 270 with goaltender in net, 17 ENG, 3 shootout loss goals not assigned to a goalie.
The Sabres collective SV% last season was 0.899, let's round to 0.90. They gave up ~32.75 shots/game.
If they cut their shots against to 30 per game and get a 0.91 save % from their collective goalies, that's 221 goals against next season.
Add in (3) shootout loss goals, and the same ENG, and that's ~245 goals against, which puts them at the league midpoint.
Cut the ENG (I assume with an improved roster, Sabres will be in more games closer to the end) in half, and with the same shots against and SV% assumptions above, that puts the Sabres in the top quarter of the league in total goals.
Although I haven't done an analysis, the league-wide change the past couple seasons in the empty net strategy (teams pulling goalies earlier, and with greater deficits) has widened the range to the "lower" (worse GA) end of the league distribution.
Better (0.910 for the platoon) goaltending will help not just in tended goals against, but reduce the # of ENGA.
If BUF can get 82 games from Comrie, Anderson, UPL, and not need to dig deeper, and if one of those goalies puts up a ~0.915 for ~50 games, they'll be fine.
Jacob582
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WhereAreTheCookies
Registered User
Hart was pretty good his first 2 seasons. 20-21 he was pretty bad though. Last season he wasn't great, but that Philly D was absolutely terrible. I imagine his numbers should improve under torts system.
brian_griffin
"Eric Cartman?"
I don't know who will love the other more - Tortorella or Ristolainen.
We should use the "former Sabres what are they doing now?" thread this season to track Risto's ice time and any comments by Tortorella.
Deep Blue Metallic
Bo knows hockey.
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Superficial Sabres' goaltending outlook ...
Comrie - good backup in limited action, unknown capability as a starter
Anderson - mentor who'll hopefully see few games, should be retired, almost certainly his last season
UPL - often injured, disappointing AHL stats, encouraging NHL stats in limited action
Subban - well liked, will never come close to draft-day expectations, career AHL starter
prospects - unsigned, possibly a starter between them by 25/26 but maybe not with the Sabres
My one huge beef with Adams is this unimpressive, hope-for-the-best mess in net. He tried to improve the situation with Murray (meh), and failed. I hope the "plan" he keeps talking about sticking to includes something more tangible than prayer for decent goaltending.
Anyone who's played at any level knows how deflating it is to play well, and have a gift goal or two against turn a victory into a loss. I really don't want our young, talented, hungry team playing on eggshells worrying about the slightest mistake winding up in their net.
I'll be happy to admit undue pessimism if we even get .905 goalkeeping. .910 and the Sabres should at least be sniffing a WC spot. But I think those numbers are too optimistic.
Comrie - good backup in limited action, unknown capability as a starter
Anderson - mentor who'll hopefully see few games, should be retired, almost certainly his last season
UPL - often injured, disappointing AHL stats, encouraging NHL stats in limited action
Subban - well liked, will never come close to draft-day expectations, career AHL starter
prospects - unsigned, possibly a starter between them by 25/26 but maybe not with the Sabres
My one huge beef with Adams is this unimpressive, hope-for-the-best mess in net. He tried to improve the situation with Murray (meh), and failed. I hope the "plan" he keeps talking about sticking to includes something more tangible than prayer for decent goaltending.
Anyone who's played at any level knows how deflating it is to play well, and have a gift goal or two against turn a victory into a loss. I really don't want our young, talented, hungry team playing on eggshells worrying about the slightest mistake winding up in their net.
I'll be happy to admit undue pessimism if we even get .905 goalkeeping. .910 and the Sabres should at least be sniffing a WC spot. But I think those numbers are too optimistic.
MarkusKetterer
Shoulda got one game in
Risto + DeAngelo + Torts is gonna be exciting to watch unless you’re a Flyers fan
WhereAreTheCookies
Registered User
He'll probably end up loving Risto. Not much hockey IQ there, but he plays hard and will generally do whatever is asked of him. Torts seems to love those kind of guys, give him a solid effort and he'll generally leave them alone.
It's interesting to see how others in hockey view things compared to the consensus on these boards. On the THN Podcast they were advocating for the Sabres trying to get Patrick Kane with a couple picks and a goaltending prospect (Hard pass for me). They framed it that if we could get that with Levy as the prospect it would be a steal for us but CHI probably wouldn't want him because he is too small so it might have to be UPL.
Matt Ress
Don't sleep on me
HF consensus is certainly not always correct. You get herd mentality here just like in hockey media but at least here, ideas and opinions are discussed generally to find the most reasonable truth whereas in hockey media, they have different motivations and truths are driven, not concluded.
WhereAreTheCookies
Registered User
Pretty sure half of what those guys say on the air or write in articles aren't what they really believe. Saying Buffalo should be patient and stick with the plan to grow their young stable won't draw viewers or clicks like saying the Sabres should get Patrick Kane.
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