In Saturday’s loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Sabres looked good during the first half of the contest, taking a 2-0 lead into the game’s first 37 minutes. Through the first period and a half, goaltending prospect Scott Ratzlaff shut out the Blue Jackets, who tried and failed to put the puck past him 20 times.
Interestingly, this wasn’t the Sabres B-Squad vs. the Blue Jackets B-Squad, but the Sabres B-Squad against a lot of Blue Jackets who will take the ice often this year. Players like Adam Fantilli, Dmitri Voronkov, Sean Monahan, and Boone Jenner, among others, dressed and played last night, so Ratzlaff had his work cut out for him.
Still, he shut out the Blue Jackets, and that remained the case until Felix Sandstrom relieved him and, well, did about as poorly of a job as you could have asked. Sandstrom allowed all six of Columbus’ goals, five at even strength and one on the power play. While it’s clear Sandstrom should be with the organization temporarily, Ratzlaff is in a different situation.
Sabres prospect Scott Ratzlaff should entice some NHL organizations
Few prospects have enjoyed a more outstanding preseason than Scott Ratzlaff, but unfortunately for him, his future probably isn’t in Buffalo unless Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen flops and the Sabres don’t find any stability at goaltender in the interim.
Note that I didn’t mention Devon Levi because in such a situation, he would emerge as the No. 1 netminder, but it would be a mystery as to who would ultimately end up behind him in the future. Maybe Ratzlaff, but if the Sabres want to earn a playoff trip during the Second Lindy Ruff Era, Ratzlaff is the kind of player you use as a bargaining chip.
Playoff contention means the Sabres would either be stable at goaltender or would sign savvy veterans to back up Luukkonen or Levi. That leaves Ratzlaff as an odd man out mainly because of his lack of experience, and despite stellar outings this preseason, it should be a while before anyone trusts him enough to play in a regular season game.
But when you look around the league, teams like the San Jose Sharks, Minnesota Wild (I’m assuming they’re in a rebuild), the Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks, and perhaps the Calgary Flames would be looking for a prospective franchise goaltender. Ratzlaff has shown potential for another organization to take a flier on him if they were to pull off a late-season trade with the Sabres, hopefully this season.