Buffalo Sabres: The writing is on the wall for Eric Comrie

The Buffalo Sabres lost two straight games, but the loss to Seattle is one they’d like to have back, and so would goaltender Eric Comrie. 

When the Buffalo Sabres signed Eric Comrie to a two-year deal over the summer, he was never supposed to be the guy. Sure, the possibility was always there, but Comrie would have needed to repeat his success from last season while starting between 40 and 45 contests to even have a chance.

So far, it has been far from the case, as Comrie, in 12 games this season, is 4-8-0, with an 0.883 save percentage and a 3.67 GAA. But wait, it gets better (or worse, really) – he has just four quality starts, giving him a QS% of 0.333. He also has four really bad starts, and a GA% of 123, 23 points below average.

And last night, although we’re only near the season’s halfway mark, it’s easy to assume Comrie is done. I know it because he lost track of the puck countless times in the loss to the Seattle Kraken, was off multiple times in positioning, and somehow managed to allow a tip in that an ECHL goaltender could have saved.

Eric Comrie will be one and done with the Buffalo Sabres

Comrie signed with the Blue and Gold through 2023-24, but there is no way general manager Kevyn Adams can justify keeping him around for another season. So it’s safe to say he will look for yet another stopgap to play the backup goaltender position in 2023-24 while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen takes over eventual GA1 duties.

Speaking of Luukkonen, the entire hockey world would have laughed if anyone put his name and the term GA1 in the same sentence. But the Finn has been remarkable as of late. On the surface, Luukkonen’s numbers aren’t much better, as he has a GAA of 3.57 and a save percentage of just 0.891, but you can attribute those low numbers to his first few starts.

Looking at his other numbers, Luukkonen’s quality starts and QS% remain below Comrie’s, but again, we can attribute this to the fact Luukkonen’s performance was horrid when he first received the recall. HIs GA% sits at 114, nine points better than Comrie’s, and his four really bad starts occurred during his first six games. His last seven starts have been a different story.

With the Sabres having improved as a hockey team, expect Granato and Adams to, at some point, cut Comrie loose if they can’t get anything out of him via a trade either before the deadline or in the offseason. Comrie’s signing, in foresight, made sense, but in hindsight, there is nothing to like here.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)

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