Sabres GM believes team's top priority is acquiring a goaltender
You can't win games if you can't stop the puck.
The Buffalo Sabres understand this and are currently seeking someone to do just that.
With the team having a ton of cap space flexibility and career back-up Chad Johnson - who didn't suit up for the team last season - as their only goalie under contract, general manager Tim Murray believes the team needs to acquire a netminder.
"The basic plan is we have to get a goalie, that's for sure," Murray told Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. "It's a moving plan. The plan always moves. We would love to trade for a 'youngish' goalie. If that doesn't work, we would trade for a real good short-term goalie who is older. If we could sign the best or second-best free agent goalie, we would be happy with that too. We're working it every day."
Buffalo had five different goaltenders appear in net throughout last season with mixed results, so the need for a consistent starter is necessary.
| Goaltender | Games Played | Record | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jhonas Enroth | 37 | 13-21-2 | 3.27 | .903 |
| Michal Neuvirth | 27 | 6-17-3 | 2.99 | .918 |
| Anders Lindback | 16 | 4-8-2 | 2.76 | .924 |
| Andrey Makarov | 1 | 0-1-0 | 3.00 | .917 |
| Matt Hackett | 5 | 0-4-1 | 4.32 | .884 |
Lindback impressed down the stretch for the Sabres, but he's hardly a starter, having never appeared in more than 24 games in a season.
Antti Niemi and Karri Ramo top the free agent class of goaltenders, and trade speculation has been circling around Cam Talbot of the New York Rangers, and the duos of Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner in Ottawa and Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom in Vancouver, so options are available.