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Not acquiring another quality goalie is haunting the Sabres

By Jacob LeBlanc

Mar 22, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton (40) is assisted off the ice following a first period injury against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton (40) is assisted off the ice following a first period injury against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /
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There was a lot of conversation about the Buffalo Sabres this past offseason. Trading for Eric Staal and signing big-name free agent Taylor Hall had many thinking the Sabres could fight for a potential playoff spot coming into this season. But one position that Buffalo fans wanted them to address was left untouched, and that was the goaltender position.

Sabres fans have seen plenty of rotation in starting goalies ever since Ryan Miller left Buffalo. And this theme has very much continued into this season. The only thing the Sabres did this offseason to make changes to their goalie depth chart was brought in Dustin Tokarski, who they figured would spend time in the AHL or on the taxi squad.

But, as we saw last night, this is no longer the case. Carter Hutton started yesterday’s game but left with a lower-body injury just a few minutes into the game. With Jonas Johansson being traded over the weekend and signing Michael Houser and adding him to the taxi squad, Tokarski was forced to step in after Hutton left the game.

All things considered, Tokarski did not look awful, as he gave up four goals on 37 shots. But with Hutton’s injury, the Sabres goalie depth is now extremely thin. But Linus Ullmark returned to practice today, so there is some good goalie news.

Once Ullmark is back, he will obviously be the starter once again. And he has had a fairly decent season thus far. But right now is the perfect example of why the Sabres should have brought in a proven goaltender this past offseason. Carter Hutton has shown that he is not the answer to Buffalo’s goalie woes over the last couple of seasons. There were numerous goalies available this past offseason that would have been a great addition to the goalie room alongside Linus Ullmark.

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Names such as Anton Khudobin and Braden Holtby could have been good additions to be a veteran presence next to Linus Ullmark. Neither of these goalies have been anything amazing this season, but it should be obvious that you should much rather rely on Khudobin or Holtby in a few starts a year over Carter Hutton.

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