Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen has stressed his desire to bring an end to the team's three-goalie rotation, and it sounds like the Philadelphia Flyers could be a prime trade option.
Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reported Tuesday a Flyers source "did not seem to have too much interest" in Colten Ellis because of the rookie's limited NHL experience, but noted bringing Alex Lyon back to Philly is possible "at the right price."
"The Flyers source did say that the price would have to be right; it doesn't sound like the Flyers would be willing to pay more than a third-round pick, especially with Lyon carrying an extra year on his deal," Di Marco wrote.
Lyon, who's nearing his return from a lower-body injury, has been the Sabres' most consistent goaltender when healthy this season. He's compiled a 2.82 goals against average and .906 save percentage across 21 appearances since signing two-year, $3 million contract in July.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, whose resurgent play in recent weeks has helped spark Buffalo's rapid climb up the Eastern Conference standings, was not mentioned as a Flyers trade target.
Philadelphia ranks 22nd in the league with an .890 team SV% in large part due to struggles from backup Samuel Ersson (.858 SV% in 16 games). Dan Vladar has been more effective (.907 in 27 contests) but has never carried a full starter's workload in the NHL.
An Alex Lyon trade could be a win-win opportunity for the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers
Lyon started his pro career with the Flyers in 2016 when he left Yale following an impressive three-year run in college hockey. He made his NHL debut in 2018 and spent four seasons bouncing between Philadelphia and the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
His numbers for Philly were mostly underwhelming, tallying a 3.21 GAA and .893 SV% in 22 games (15 starts).
The 33-year-old journeyman has since made stops with the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings and now the Sabres. He helped carry the Cats into the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a late-season surge as Sergei Bobrovsky recovered from an illness.
Now the veteran netminder's career could come full circle with a return to the Flyers.
Moving Lyon would come with some risk for the Sabres, who can't be entirely sure what they have in Ellis after just 10 NHL starts, but it may be the best approach from the perspective of asset management.
Ellis is unlikely to generate much, if any, trade interest. That means Buffalo would have to place him back on the waiver wire, which is how it acquired him in October, and it's possible another team (maybe his former club, the St. Louis Blues) would claim him.
Although it's unclear whether the 25-year-old Canadian goalie will ever become a full-time starter, losing him for nothing isn't the ideal outcome.
Meanwhile, Kekalainen probably doesn't want to deal away UPL given his terrific current form, even though that seemed like the best option as recently as last month.
It leaves Lyon, a battle-tested veteran with some playoff experience, as the goaltender who catch fetch a decent trade return without significantly altering the Sabres' future plans.
From Philadelphia's viewpoint, getting a more stable crease partner for Vladar without giving up more than a middle-round draft pick feels like a no-brainer.
Even if the Flyers feel it's too soon to give up on Ersson, 26, their margin for error in the East postseason chase isn't large enough to keep running a goalie out there who owns an .884 SV% in 126 career NHL appearances.
Lyon could fill that backup void in the short term, and Philly general manager Daniel Briere (a Sabres legend) always retains the option to flip him in a different trade over the summer if he decides to give Ersson another chance next season.
It creates the parameters of a win-win trade, though Buffalo may try to squeeze a second-round pick out of Philadelphia since there's still plenty of time before the 2026 NHL trade deadline on March 6.
Of course, the Flyers also have the leverage of the Sabres not wanting to slide back into their three-goalie rotation, which yielded mostly terrible results early in the campaign.