New Sabres free agent signing has already proven to be a giant mistake

If there’s any good news here, it’s that the Sabres giant mistake in bringing on Felix Sandstrom should be minimal if Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and company stay healthy. But it’s still alarming that they’re just two injuries away from seeing him in a blue and gold uniform, and that should scare any fan who wants to see this team end its playoff drought. 

Sure, you might say, “What are the odds we lose two goaltenders at the same time?” Hey, it happened during the 2021-22 season, which was my entire motivation for writing a piece on Michael Houser.

At this point, I’d rather see Houser in the net as opposed to Sandstrom, even if the former isn’t technically signed with the Sabres. But really, if Sandstrom is the best the Sabres can do should Luukkonen, James Reimer, or Devon Levi go down with injuries, oh, this would be a long stretch of games if he’s thrust into action. 

Scott Ratzlaff (still unsigned) could probably enter the crease in an NHL contest and put together a better-quality game than Sandstrom. Okay, okay, that probably wouldn’t be the case when an opposing big club is giving it their all in the regular season, but you still can’t help but acknowledge how well Ratzlaff played when compared to Sandstrom.  

The Sabres would be in a bad place if they had to start Felix Sandstrom

Felix Sandstrom’s career numbers should have told us all we need to know about the guy. Overall, he’s got a 4-18-4 record, a career save percentage of 0.880, a 3.66 GAA, and a 0.346 quality starts percentage. Last season, Sandstrom was particularly dreadful, finishing the year with a 3.87 GAA, an 0.823 save percentage, and a 0.333 quality starts percentage. 

Yeah, he played in just five games, but he did nothing to remotely show he could be even a low-tier NHL talent. Okay, so maybe Sandstrom fared better in the AHL, right? Actually, he appeared in 24 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last year, and while he ended the season with a 13-7-3 record, Sandstrom also garnered an 0.884 save percentage and a 3.15 GAA. 

The numbers above should clue you in on how much of a mistake it was to sign Sandstrom, but his play in the preseason further drove the point home. Overall, if he continues to play like this, we could see Sandstrom, when called into action in Rochester, hurt what should be a very good Amerks team in 2024-25. 

In a worst-case scenario, we’ll see him play in Buffalo, and we can only hope the Sabres will bring their A-game if that’s the case.