While Allen might be a good mentor,
that’s not what the Sabres are looking for

At this price though, I’d say it’s a “maybe”
Credit to you for being reasonable
Most of your fellow Habs fans on here are generally outta their damn minds 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

omg dont start with the Jake Allen to Buffalo trades again, please. Just waive him

Thanks, trying to find the best deals for both sides.
What is the plan for Buffalo between the pipes next year? UPL + Levi seem a bit inexperienced.

Not like I’m asking for much. If MTL waive him, BUF will surely claim him. Next year BUF could run UPL - Allen and Levi in the AHL. GSAA of Allen is a lot better compared to Levi and Comrie. A 6th for experience and some stability seems like a good deal.

tampa declines, Savard doesn't do anything for them

Buffalo has 0 interest in him. They wouldnt claim him and they arent giving up anything for him. UPL has been a clear #1 and Levi is someone theyve gone out of the way to keep in the NHL. They dont need a 4 goalie rotation, they dont even need or want the 3 goalie rotation. They dont want Allen. Levi's numbers have also been gradually improving, almost if he was a rookie or something. His analytics are weighed down by his start. Levi is a significantly better option than Allen now and going forward

I think the plan is in flux, depending on how the rest of this season plays out

My GUESS- assuming UPL continues to play well- would be to have UPL be the 1A & to bring in a 1B type, with Levi being the full time starter in the AHL

Although you’re making Allen VERY CHEAP (costing us only a 6th), there’s still some problems that would prevent us actually *wanting* Allen
1- your original premise of bringing in Allen to “mentor Levi” is moot, since Levi would be in the AHL
2- so then it becomes a question of whether or not Allen is good enough to be a dependable “1B” to support UPL, & potentially take over the 1A role at times if UPL struggles, gets hurt, etc

So is Allen good enough to be a Legit 1B goalie for us ??
I think you’d agree that the answer to that is probably “no”
Since a hot start, going 3-0-1, Allen has been pretty bad,
going only 2-9-2
Allen sure doesn’t appear to be providing u guys with much “stability”

While Allen may be a better option than Comrie or Levi,
there’s also MUCH better options than Allen out there
And i think it’s a fairly safe assumption on my laser that we’d investigate those options

If we can get a decent UFA to sign with us,
or if we can’t make a trade for a goalie,
then- and probably ONLY then- would we look to a guy like Allen


Sorry for the long post, but to be more concise:
I simply think we would look for someone better than Allen

The problem with waiving Allen is that it bypasses his NTC.
A low pick isn't unreasonable but requires a buyer with cap space. A team may decide to acquire him eventually, they are likely to explore other options first due to cap hit and term, and knowing we aren't going to retain for a low pick, so budget friendly options will be cheaper.

Columbus accepts

Every young goalie needs at least a year in the AHL to develop: Wallstedt (59 games), Askarov (61), Wolf (127). Spencer Knight is the only exception. He started in the NHL and looked good. However FLA front office tought that a stint in the AHL would be the best for him. Levi is a great goalie but he is not an exception.
Wouldn’t count on Comrie and his horrible GSAA to backup and mentor UPL next year.

Very interesting! Two BUF fan and two very different opinions.

Indeed, initially I tought that Allen would be a good mentor for Levi because I was not aware of the complete goalie situation (UPL having a great year and Levi a so-so year). Allen would in this situation Allen would mentor UPL instead of Levi indeed.

Is Allen good enough to be a 1B for UPL? In my opinion, it depends how many games you expect him to play. Allen is a good option if you expect him to play from 15 to 35 games. Historically, over that range and that frquency of game, he starts to have a lot of bad games. The years he played between 15 and 35 games, Allen put good to great stats (GSAA around 0 to a GSAA of 10). If you give 35 games to Allen, 40 to UPL and 7 to Levi to test him, you are in a great situation.

Buffalo could look for other options. But with BUF cap situation and Allen cost it would be a good fit.

For 2024 UFAs, Brossoit or Desmith could also be great options. However, the have less experienced abd there is less data for them. Allen is a more: you know what you get option.

Instead of the 6th rounder, would an Allen - Jost switch be a better deal for BUF?

I'm not Kevyn Adams. Kevin Adams has bent over backwards to keep Levi in the NHL. UPL is past mentoring, he's pretty solidified as their starter. Not only that, Craig Anderson works as a goalie mentor off ice currently anyway, so aside from stealing minutes, there is nothing Jake Allen could do anyway

Tought TBL needed a RD. Raddysh and Perbix are better than I tought.

I’m not Kevin Adams, but imo….

1- in your own words, “UPL is having a great year”
Does he NEED a “mentor” or do we just need to find the best guy available to pair with him?

2- since they first 4 games of the season, Allen has been HORRIBLE- i see no reason at all to think he’d be a good 1B option, and that there’s other guys out there who’d be better suited to fill the role we are looking for

3- we don’t have a “cap situation”
We have PLENTY of room & Allen’s cap hit vs what another goalie costs doesn’t matter at all to us

4- doesn’t just have to be a UFA- we have all the pieces in the world to work out a trade as well

5- only giving up a 6th, or Jost, would be great
But what would be better- what we NEED- is the best actual goalie. And Allen just isn’t any good at all anymore
He’s be a “last resort” type option for us imo

Fair
But i wouldn’t count on Allen either

More importantly… would our GM ?
I doubt it

Maybe Adams keeps Levi in the NHL because he is better than Comrie. BUF is in a situation where they would like to compete for a playoff spot. If Comrie was playing like he was in 2021-2022, Levi would have been in the AHL a long time ago. UPL is only 25, you can’t give him 60 games and expect he will be great, you need a 1B goalie. Is the 1B Levi? If you’re thinking long term you want to develop Levi in the AHL and have a 1B goalie able to play up to 35 games. Allen proved that he is able to do it. Every year he played under 35 games, he was good or even great.

1- Montembault said at multiple occasions that Allen have been great for him. He is always helping him and is a confidence booster. Do you prefer having this kind of backup for UPL or a younger goalie (26-30) that want to steal his job?

2- If you look at the W-L colums Allen seems to have a bad year. In a lot of these games, he received 45 shots and above. Objectively, in most games, he saved the shots he was supposed to. Still based on objective stats, he had 9 good starts, 6 ok starts and 2 bad ones. The W-L colums are team stats, not goalie stats. If you want to evaluate a goalie performance, you need look at the kind of shots he received, how many goals were expected to go in (XG), how many he let in compared to the XG (GSAA). It is a lot more complex than just looking at the wins and loses.

3- BUF cap situation is that they can easily afford Allen for this year and next year. That is what I meant.

4- True! You can pay a lot for a better goalie but what would be the term on his contract (does it fits BUF situation), how many game the new goalie would want, where he is in his career (Does he wants to be a starter for few years?). With Allen all these questions seem to fit BUF plan.

5- Is Allen the best goalie in the market? I’m objective and I know he’s not. Is he bad? Absolutely not, regular stats and advanced stats show that he is a top 40 goalie in the league.

TB really has zero interest in a 4 year older Savard who wasn't a good skater 4 years ago making 3 times what we were paying him at nearly the identical cost to obtain him easy easy No.

Not understanding the 3 times what we were paying but I understand that Savard might not be the good fit in TBL. Not a great skater but he is on his best offensive pace and he still 4 years later a really good playoff warrior.

TB he only cost them 1.05 million

Like I wrote in my trade, there would be a double retain, 1,75M by MTL and 0,875M for a 3rd party He would cost them 0,875M for 2 years. Cheaper than he was 4 years ago and for an extra year!

Ok missed that my apologies however his skating still sucks and with the showing of Thompson and Crozier on the right side and Lilleberg and Carlisle on the left that reinforcement on the blueline is likely internat and any futures used would be for a defensive middle 6 foward a Nick Paul type

Adams kept all 3 in the NHL, so that's not the case. From the start of the season until December Levi had a 3.73GAA .874 save% and 2 Quality Starts in 9 games. Since December 1st Levi has a 2.98GAA .900 save% and 6 QS in 11 games. He currently has a 1.5 Goals saved above expected, which is 24th in the league for Goalies with 20 or more starts (UPL is 22nd). Hes continually progressing at the NHL level. Dumping the season average stats with 0 context doesn't prove a point. Sabre fans are more guilty of this than anybody, and I'm calling them out more so, as I've been saying all year UPL and Levi are fine, they aren't scapegoats and they aren't Buffalos problem. Both goalies are giving them league average play, which if they were scoring like they were last year, they would easily be in a playoff spot right now

You can have Peeke for less than that, Columbus accepts. If you take the full deal (and if our GM was willing to admit a mistake and move a guy), you could have him for FC.

yea they need an upgrade over perbix but I wouldn't give a first anymore for Savard