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Sabres news: Sabres made the right move bringing up Tokarski

By Jacob LeBlanc

Mar 24, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski (31) warms up before playing the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 24, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski (31) warms up before playing the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Buffalo Sabres have had question marks surrounding their goalies since the beginning of the season. Many believed that the Sabres were poised to bring in a veteran goaltender this past offseason, but they decided against it. The only goalkeeper move that the Sabres made last offseason was to sign Dustin Tokarski.

At the beginning of the season, it seemed that Tokarski was going to get plenty of playing time for the Rochester Americans in the AHL. But plans changed quickly as there has been plenty of movement surrounding the goalies in the Sabres organization.

Right now, Tokarski is acting as the backup goalie to Linus Ullmark. With Carter Hutton out with injury and Jonas Johansson being dealt to Colorado for a 2021 6th round draft pick, Tokarski is seeing more playing time than anyone initially thought at the beginning of the season.

Tokarski is pretty much filling the role Jonas Johansson was in before he was traded, and he is doing a better job than Johansson was doing. The sample size for Tokarski is still very small, as he has only played in four games so far, compared to seven in Buffalo for Johansson. They have posted the same goals-against average, but Tokarski has a significantly higher save percentage than Johansson had in Buffalo. Tokarski also faces more shots on average per game than Jonas did in his time this season with the Sabres.

Once Hutton returns from injury, he will likely take over the backup goalie duties, and Tokarski will be sent back to the taxi squad. But I am not sure if the Sabres should ever rule out Dustin being the primary backup to Ullmark. He has shown that he has the skillset to have quality games in the NHL. Last night is a prime example. Even though Buffalo fell in overtime, Tokarski had his best performance of the season, stopping 44 out of 47 shots.

dark. Next. Where do the Buffalo Sabres go from here?

The goalie position has been a huge question mark for Buffalo all season. The only thing we know for sure is that Linus Ullmark is the current starter. But there is no reason why we cannot experiment with the backup spot and get different people some playing time. It’s not like we are fighting for a playoff spot or anything.

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