The Buffalo Sabres under GM Kevyn Adams have had some close calls, and in other seasons have not been anywhere close to challenging for a playoff spot. In 2022-23, under head coach Don Granato, the Sabres came within a whisker of making the playoffs, losing the race for the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot by a single point to the Florida Panthers.
Looking back on that season and what has occurred since, you have to conclude that the offensive explosion that resulted in 296 goals scored and career-highs for Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch, and Victor Olofsson was an apparition, as Buffalo dropped by 50 goals two years ago and fell short by 27 goals last season, but if you had to narrow down the reason the Sabres fell short of the postseason to one thing, it would have to be Adams failure to recognize that an upgrade in goal was needed before the trade deadline.
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Prior to Devon Levi joining the club late in the season after winning his second-straight Mike Richter Award with Northeastern, the Sabres goaltending trio of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Craig Anderson, and Eric Comrie was inconsistent and at times woeful. The 42-year-old Anderson was the most consistent of the three, with a .908 save percentage, but he could not play more than once or twice a week.
Comrie’s signing after a strong season in Winnipeg was one of a number of Adams miscalculations, as he went 9-9-1 with a 3.67 GAA and .886 save percentage, and Luukkonen had some moments, but could have benefited from a full year in the American Hockey League. Buffalo was in the playoff race at the deadline and needed a veteran backstop (like James Reimer, who was a pending UFA playing for San Jose) to plug the holes in the final five or six weeks of the regular season.
Ironically, the Panthers made it into the postseason because of the hot goaltending of current Sabre Alex Lyon, who took over from Sergei Bobrovsky and went 6-1-1 in his final eight starts.
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