Defense and Goaltending is gonna kill our chances.

no trust in ullmark? i think he's given a bit too much flack. I also like Montour's rebound odds and Dahlin's growth to be great with the offensive lean. I'd want a better backup by the TDL tho

Ullmark is “ok”
But need an upgrade on Hutton
He’s just WAY too inconsistent, & flat out terrible at times

Defense isn’t that bad
Could use a RH for LH swap, but it shouldn’t be a huge deal is we don’t

Hutton is brutal, McCabe is inconsistent defensively, Miller, Montour, Ristolainen are being bet on to bounce back, Ullmark is good but he's not a starter. Especially when the backup is terrible.

Interesting. Because most people seem to be confident in Georgiev (trading for to run as a starter) on this website though I think Ullmark is a much better version of him - pretty good stats given the team in front of him, and with a larger sample size.

Not saying Ullmark is a star or anything, but I'd label him as a competent starter who is more ideal in a jobshare. I think he can solidify himself as a starter next year with the team in front of him in better form.

Well I think that's an unfair comparison. Georgiev has played much less, is 3 years younger, a sheltered backup, and behind a even worse defense. Ullmark was shoehorned as the starter after a long development and not much ease to the transition. That's something I hope they don't repeat with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Ullmark is a very solid goaltender. I consider him a "perfect backup". I think if he's the starter its not the worst thing but if Hutton is behind him? the team is dead in the water. They can't wait for UPL but they need to find a better option than Hutton. I'd be fine waiving Hutton and giving the backup to Jonas Johansson. I'm sure he'll do better.

Just some fun facts about Ullmark:
First:
Of all the NHL GK who played more than 30 games last year only Anton Khudobin, Tuukka Rask, Tristan Jarry, Philipp Grubauer and Connor Hellebuyck had a better ES SV % than Ullmark.
Khudobin, Rask were lights out with 0.945 and 0.939 SV% but the next three were 0.029, 0.929 0.927 followed by Ullmark 0.926 SV%.
That is pretty good company to be in.
Second:
Ullmark had the best SV% (0.984) of all NHL GK on shots taken from 31 ft. and further (shots 565 goals 9).
Keep the puck out of the danger zone and clear more rebounds he will stop the long-shots.
Third:
Of all NHL GK who played more than 30 games only Pekka Rinne, Jonathan Quick, John Gibson and Carter Hutton had worse PK SV% than Ullmark.
It was the PK that killed the team last year.
Fourth:
The defense is very young.
McCabe and Miller are the grey beards and they are only 27, just about when defensemen have their best years.
Two of their best defensemen Dahlin and Jokiharju are only 19 and 20 respectively.

What do you think if you put Buffalo's defense in front of Rask and Boston's in front of Ullmark?

The defense will be better next year.
The offense will be better next year which will reduce the shots against.
I pray to god the PK and PP will be better next year.

If the team stays healthy,
If the moon is in the Seventh House
and if Jupiter aligns with Mars
Maybe the Sabres make the playoffs and will the 2016-'17 Ottawa Senators.

The EV SV% is great,
but he was pretty bad on the PK if i remember correctly
But i like Ullmark as a “1b” goalie
If we could just get a good Vet to go with him,
then i think we’d be in good shape

I’d love to get one of the ARZ goalies, especially Kuemper

The Sabre skater are too passive when they PK.
I watched as many playoff games as my schedule permitted.
Nearly every team, pressured the puck carrier to make a play or move before their team was ready.
If the coaching staff was instructing the players to stay in their defensive box, I do not think Reider or Eakin will fix the problem.

My point for posting my fun facts was to highlight the PK problems.
The team is not blocking the passing lanes and teams are getting open and making clean shots.

Let me add, some of Ullmark's mechanics have been addressed.
I do not remember a single wrap around, 5 hole goal or puck going under his pads.
If Bales can continue to improve his positioning and mechanics, he could emerge as the our top GK.

Finally:
Did we all forget that Hutton set a Sabre record. He made 47 saves to record a shutout.
He had essentially 3 seasons, 9 games with a .928 SV%, followed by 8 games where he had a .854 SV%, then a 13 game stretch of a .904 SV%.
I cannot believe that the coaching staff was unaware of his eye condition.
Johansson or Hammond would have been better than Carter when he had his eye problems.
Maybe Hutton could be put on LTIR and Buffalo use a very inexpensive backup or trade for a GK better than Ullmark.

Hutton got surgery & is supposedly “ok” now,
so i doubt LTIR is a possibility for him

Yeah, the PK definitely needs fixing for sure
That killed us at times last year