We are one week away from the Buffalo Sabres resuming their 2025-26 season. A topic of conversation for most parts of this season is the Sabres goaltending. When former general manager Kevyn Adams was in charge, he had a three-goalie rotation. It consisted of Alex Lyon, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis.
Luukkonen has been hurt and was forced to miss the Winter Olympics for Team Finland, so it was Ellis and Lyon managing the load for Buffalo. Under the new management, the Sabres have been rolling out the same three goalies. But going forward, here is what I think they should do.
What they should do
In my opinion, Buffalo should have a two-goalie rotation. What's the point of having three goalies? I understand if one player isn't performing and you have another player taking his role but that's why you have two goalies. All you need is a backup and starter, having an extra guy sitting in the press box just seems like a waste to me.
Again, I understand the strategy behind it but I'm not the biggest fan of having three goaltenders on the roster.
Who it should be
Regarding who the two goaltenders should be, I suggest that a pair of Luukkonen and Lyon would be the best-case scenario for the Sabres. Whenever Luukkonen is healthy, which should be when Buffalo comes back to resume the season, him and Lyon should be the goaltenders who hit the ice.
Ellis is 7-4-1 but has a save percentage of .896 and a 3.11 goals against average. UPL is 11-7-2 with a SV% of .903 and a 2.73 GAA while Lyon has a 2.72 GAA, .913 SV% and is 14-8-3. Lyon has been the Sabres go-to guy for most of the season while Luukkonen also has been getting some playing time.
As for Ellis, he's just too inconsistent for me. We will see what the Sabres decide to do but I believe they should roll with a tandem of Lyon and Luukkonen to maximize their playoff chances.