Sabres: Goalie depth chart projections for 2021 NHL season
The Sabres have not announced their depth chart for this upcoming season yet. But with five goalies currently signed to the team, what could the depth chart look like?
The Buffalo Sabres currently have five signed goalies for the upcoming 2021 hockey season. One of which is on loan. The other four are within the Sabres organization right now and we will see between the Rochester Americans and the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres did not make any big offseason goalie acquisitions going into this season. So, we should not be expecting to see anything very different when it comes to the goalies within the organization.
But these are my personal projections for the 2021 Sabres goalie depth chart.
5. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is the only signed goalie that is currently on a loan. He is currently playing for TPS in the Liiga in Finland. He is yet to make an appearance at the NHL level, as the closest he has gotten is the Rochester Americans in the AHL.
But Luukkonen has shown some promise for sure. And at only 21 years old, he has so much time to develop. At such a young age, he already has a hefty list of awards.
He received the Red Tilson Trophy, which is the most outstanding player in the OHL. He was the first European born player to receive that award. He also was selected to the 2020 ECHL All-Star Classic as a rookie.
The future looks bright for the Sabres with Luukkonen if he continues to show improvement. I could see him starting in the AHL very soon. If he performs well, I would not be surprised to see Luukkonen as the starting goaltender in Buffalo within the next couple of seasons.
4. Dustin Tokarski
Dustin Tokarski has been bouncing between the NHL and AHL since back in 2009. He has not been able to sustain any sort of role in the NHL as most of the games he has played in since then have been in the AHL. I see him has being a good veteran member of the Rochester Americans to help mentor the younger goalies that may play there this season.
I see Tokarski starting the season as the backup goalie in Rochester. He was very productive in his most recent season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In the 2019-2020 season, he posted a goals against average (GAA) of 1.97 and a .924 save percentage (SV%).
Those are quality stats, and he could play a big role in helping develop the younger goalies within the Sabres organization such as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Jonas Johansson.
Even with his limited NHL experience, some experience at the top level is better than none. I believe that Tokarski will play a big role on and off the ice this season for Buffalo and Rochester.
3. Jonas Johansson
Jonas Johansson made some appearances with the Sabres last year, so this makes me feel like the Sabres are pretty high on him and may make him the starter for the Rochester Americans this season. Johansson played in six games (started five) for Buffalo last season. In those six appearances, he posted a SV% of .894 and a GAA of 2.94.
These numbers are nothing special, but these were his first starts in the NHL of his career. In his time with the Rochester Americans in the AHL in the 2019-2020 season, Johansson played in 22 games and posted a SV% of .921 and a 2.28 GAA.
Noticeably better than his short stint in the NHL. But Johansson is only 25 years old, so there is no reason to be rushing him into the NHL, especially when the Sabres have two goalies with plenty of NHL experience.
I think we will see Johansson playing more for the Sabres in the near future, especially if they want to get Luukkonen more time at a higher level in the AHL. He is young enough to still develop more and also shown promise in the AHL.
2. Carter Hutton
It seems pretty obvious that Carter Hutton will start the season as the backup goalie on the Sabres. Hutton had a fairly underwhelming 2019-2020 season with a .898 SV% and a 3.18 GAA.
He played in 31 games, compared to the 34 games that Linus Ullmark played in. There is really no stats to support starting Hutton over Ullmark this season.
Hutton has struggled since being traded from the St. Louis Blues to the Sabres after the 2017-2018 season, a year in which he posted career highs in SV% and GAA. But being a career backup before being traded to Buffalo, he has not shown much to prove he should be a starter since filling that role in Buffalo.
Hutton being 35 years old, is a good veteran presence on the team and in the goalie room. He has shown flashes of greatness every once in a while in his time in Buffalo, but nothing consistent enough to be a solid number one goalie.
1. Linus Ullmark
Linus Ullmark proved last year that he deserves to start this season as the starting goaltender for the Sabres. Ullmark outplayed Hutton in pretty much every relevant statistical category last season. He had a .915 SV% and a 2.69 GAA in the 2019-2020 season.
Over the last two seasons, Ullmark has pretty much split time with Hutton in goal for the Sabres, but last year was the first time he has played in more games than Hutton.
He has also improved from one season to the next, so I am excited to see if he can continue to improve and provide the consistency in goal that the Sabres and their fans have been looking for since Ryan Miller left.
Next. What to expect from Linus Ullmark in 2021. dark
Ullmark is currently 27 years old, so he has plenty of good years left. And if he continues to show improvement, he could be a key piece of this team for years to come. Between him, Johansson, and Luukkonen, the Sabres have some young potential at the goalie position.