The Buffalo Sabres signed goaltender Eric Comrie to be their main man in the net this season, but an injury derailed those plans.
Goaltender Eric Comrie has missed the previous few weeks with a lower body injury, prompting Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to take his spot between the pipes. While Luukkonen was horrible for the first handful of games, he has since come on strong, conquering the net against the Colorado Avalanche before an encore performance against the Vegas Golden Knights.
With Luukkonen playing at such a high level, what do you do when Eric Comrie returns? Ideally, you follow the old rule and go with the hot hand, and you don’t send that hot hand back to Rochester if they are saving 0.951 of shots on goal.
That said, there is also the fact that Comrie could use some in-game reps before heading back to the Sabres. So given Luukkonen’s strong performances, the Blue and Gold should send Comrie to Rochester for at least a couple of contests.
Buffalo Sabres need to keep Luukkonen in the net, send down Comrie
Of course, the one caveat for doing this means Comrie is not waiver-exempt, meaning another team can claim him on waivers. But again, you have Luukkonen playing at a high level, Craig Anderson setting the bar high, and Comrie, thus far, has struggled during his stint in Buffalo.
Comrie is also open to the idea of heading to Rochester for a couple of tune up games if the Sabres want him to go there. So it’s not like there will be discourse between him and the organization if he goes.
However, if Comrie heads to Rochester, struggles, and Luukkonen continues to play well, then once again, the Sabres must do the necessary thing and keep Luukkonen in the NHL, and Comrie in Rochester. This might, in time, spell the end of Comrie’s time in the organization a year early, but Luukkonen is younger, was drafted by the organization, and is looking more and more like an NHL goaltender.
Article Source: AHL Conditioning Stint for Comrie Should Be Sabres’ Next Move by Melissa Burgess
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