To say the Buffalo Sabres have struggled to make good decisions the last several years in free agency is an understatement. And they made another curious one last week as NHL free agency began.
On a bad defensive team last year, Linus Ullmark posted impressive numbers, with a 9-6 record, 2.63 GAA, and .917 SV%. Those are strong stats on a good team, let alone a team that finished 19 games below 500. Why let go of a young goaltender who could be a building block for years to come? I have no idea.
Goalies are the cornerstones to NHL franchises (just look at the Tampa Lighting with Vasilevsky). Buffalo will likely not be contenders for a few years, but it would have made sense to stabilize the goaltender position and add some pieces around him. Instead, the Sabres chose to bring in Craig Anderson and Aaron Dell, two goalies who are no longer capable of being number one goalies; yes, this is definitely a head-scratcher.
Buffalo made Ullmark an offer but it was not compelling enough to keep him from departing to the rival Bruins. Maybe he would have left no matter what the Sabres offered or maybe the Sabres did not demonstrate their desire to build around Ullmark? I am leaning towards the latter.
With Linus Ullmark in tow and some upgrades defensively (and offensively if Eichel is not traded), the Sabres could have set themselves up for success in the short and long term. Instead, they let him walk and are now left with a huge void in net.
Now the clock is ticking on the Sabres with many key players already gobbled up on the first days of free agency. They may have a plan in place for the off-season but it certainly does not seem that way by their actions thus far.