Colten Ellis will make his NHL debut Wednesday night when the Buffalo Sabres host the Detroit Red Wings at the KeyBank Center. It'll also be the goalie's first appearance for the Blue and Gold, who claimed him off waivers from the St. Louis Blues just before the start of the regular season.
Ellis, a third-round pick by the Blues in the 2019 NHL draft, spent the past four seasons splitting time between St. Louis' AHL and ECHL affiliates. Now he'll take center stage for a nationally televised game (7:30 p.m. ET on TNT) in his first start at hockey's highest level.
"This is something I've worked my whole life for, and I'm just super grateful and happy for the opportunity," the 25-year-old Canadian netminder told Rachel Lenzi of the Buffalo News.
Ellis will provide a breather to Alex Lyon, who's been fantastic as Buffalo's starter (.924 save percentage) while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen recovers from a pair of preseason injuries.
Colten Ellis faces uncertain Buffalo Sabres future as UPL nears NHL return
The Sabres feature perhaps the league's most crowded goalie depth chart. They have five netminders who have a legitimate case to play NHL games this season, though Alexandar Georgiev may have run out of chances amid an extended stretch of poor play over the past few years.
Claiming Ellis, who was blocked in St. Louis by Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer, made a lot of sense for Buffalo as it navigated Luukkonen's absence. UPL has started a conditioning assignment, however, and his impending return will complicate the situation.
The Sabres can't send Ellis to the AHL's Rochester Americans without clearing waivers, and there's a real chance another club would take a chance on him. Buffalo's front office would probably like to get more than a one-game look at the young goaltender, too.
So, it's possible the Blue and Gold will carry three goalies, which is never ideal because it's difficult to keep them all involved enough to remain sharp.
The situation puts a little extra pressure on Ellis to have a strong debut against the Wings.
He's compiled a .919 SV% across 64 regular-season appearances for the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds over the past three years. He was also fantastic for the Thunderbirds in last season's Calder Cup Playoffs, posting a .933 SV% in three postseason contests.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was impressed with Ellis' preseason play for St. Louis.
"When Ellis became available, he's someone that we as an organization we felt really highly about," Ruff told reporters after Buffalo claimed him off waivers. "I like his puck play. I like how quick he is. Watched a good part of his games yesterday. [He has] a calmness about him. So, I can understand why he's been on the radar."
Meanwhile, UPL will be starting for the Amerks on Wednesday against the Syracuse Crunch, so it's an important night to begin determining the team's path forward in net this season.
At minimum, a strong outing from Ellis would create more competition for playing time, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for a team off to a sluggish 2-4-0 start to the campaign.