Buffalo Sabres and the Chad Johnson Dilemma

The Sabres are selling – but should they really ship #31 out of town?

Last week, Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray acknowledged that his team had improved in many areas except the standings, and that once, again, as the trade deadline approaches, the club is looking to shake up its roster in order to acquire prospects, draft picks, or players who fit into the team’s long-term plans.

When you think of players on the Buffalo Sabres roster who hold enough market value to attract any sort of interest, forward Tyler Ennis certainly comes to mind, as there are numerous teams that would like to add a little scoring pop to their lineup as they gear up for the second half of the NHL regular season. However, the way he has been playing this year, it can easily be argued that, out of all the players the Sabres would ever think to dangle as part of a trade, goaltender Chad Johnson holds the highest value.

The question, of course, is whether the Buffalo Sabres should trade Johnson, or attempt to resign him this summer.

Should He Stay . . .

Having watched a fair share of Buffalo Sabres games this season, both in person and in the comfort of my own home, I can promise you that I am something of a Chad Johnson expert. And by expert, I mean, I’ve watched him do stuff. That qualifies, right?

With those credentials firmly established, I can give you a heck of good reason to keep Johnson in town: he’s earned the starting job. Forget the 12-12-2 record; the Sabres are a better, more competitive team when Johnson is in goal. Even though the Sabres have improved from last season, this is still a team that gets out-shot and out-skilled almost every night. Yet, here we are, with the Sabres only four wins and 12 points behind their season totals from 2014-15.

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Looking at Johnson’s numbers, you can argue that he is having his best overall season in the National Hockey League. No, his 2.36 GAA and .920 save percentage are not the best he’s ever had, but that is because Johnson posted his best numbers as a member of the 2013-14 Boston Bruins, a team that went 54-19-3 and only allowed 177 goals all season, second only to the 174 given up by the Los Angeles Kings.

Is this Buffalo Sabres team even close to being as good as the 2013-14 Boston Bruins? Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Man, that was good. No, sir, or ma’am, they are not, which makes Johnson’s reliable play in goal all the better.

Linus Ullmark may be the goalie of the future for the Sabres, but in Johnson the Sabres have a goaltender in the prime of his career, If Tim Murray and company want to see the Sabres make it to the playoffs next season – which I’m hoping like hell they want, since I am sick of having to pick a random team to cheer for – they should hang onto Johnson and give Ullmark a little more time to hone his game.

. . . Or Should He Go?

Of course, if the front office of the Buffalo Sabres do not believe that the team will qualify for the playoffs in the next 1-2 years, the question of whether or not they should keep Chad Johnson becomes incredibly easy to answer. Aside from Ryan O’Reilly, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, and Rasmus Ristolainen – the only four players I would consider absolutely untouchable at this point of the rebuild – Johnson is the one player on the Sabres roster* who could be thrown into a package that would bring a quality, left-handed defenseman into the 716.

*Jury is still out on Evander Kane, and I kind of want to keep him, anyway.

Johnson’s looming UFA status both makes the decision to trade him easy – why not get something for him before he leaves? – and complicated: which teams are desperate enough for goaltending that they will take a risk on Johnson? Even if they convince him to resign as part of the deal, this is a guy with two good, not great, seasons to his credit. Does anyone outside of Buffalo see him as a club’s starting netminder for the next 4-5 seasons?

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Personally, I am of the mindset that the Buffalo Sabres should keep Chad Johnson. I’m tired of the goaltending carousel, and I want to see this team earn a playoff spot in the next year or two. After sitting in the stands, watching Johnson earn a shutout against the Anaheim Ducks, despite the fact that the Ducks outshot the Sabres 44-22 and totally owned the third period, I realized that Buffalo could ride Johnson into the playoffs in the near future. For me, that’s a good enough reason to keep him, and use a handful of other players to try and nudge the team closer to the promised land.

What do you think?

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