New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury is taking a careful approach to the goalie market after Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending knee injury, and that process apparently has the Rangers looking around the league in person.
Elliotte Friedman said on Thursday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast that Rangers goalie scout Scott Clemmensen’s presence at Tuesday night’s Buffalo Sabres-Montreal Canadiens game likely wasn’t random.
“What Drury's going to do is - he's gonna be like Santa Claus. He's making a list, he's checking it twice, he's gonna figure out who looks bad and who looks nice, right?
And Clemmensen is gonna be his guy going out there to look at guys firsthand, and he was in Montreal-Buffalo, I assume to watch [Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka] Luukkonen. We'll see what goes on there."
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman
That would fit the bigger picture in Buffalo, where Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has become a name to watch. The 6-foot-5 goalie put up a .910 save percentage over 35 appearances last season, but his first three starts this year were rough, producing a .782 SV%. He has steadied himself lately, though, stopping 48 of 52 shots for a .923 SV% against the Canadiens and Florida Panthers.
Luukkonen’s name has been floating in trade talk for months. Over the summer, the Sabres were tied to a possible blockbuster involving Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, but nothing came together before the 2026 NHL Draft. After the new league year began, the 27-year-old Finland native reportedly added the Jets to his five-team no-trade list.
His Buffalo run has been uneven from the start. Luukkonen’s best season came in 2023-24, when he posted a .910 SV% in 54 games. The next year, that dropped to .887 in 55 appearances.
The inconsistency has been the story since he reached the NHL in 2021. At the same time, his size and athleticism still suggest there may be a true No. 1 goalie in there if the performance starts to level out from game to game.
For the Rangers, there’s no immediate pressure to force a move. Dylan Garand has given them stability in net since Shesterkin went down, with a .951 SV% in four games, buying Drury time to sort through the options instead of rushing into a panic trade.
Buffalo’s side of the equation is messy, too. It would be hard to imagine the Sabres carrying both Luukkonen and Hellebuyck on the same roster, especially with Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis also in the NHL picture. If Luukkonen doesn’t want Winnipeg, Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen may need to get creative if he decides to revisit the Hellebuyck idea while the team’s goaltending remains shaky early.
One path could involve a three-team deal with Buffalo, Winnipeg and the Rangers, sending Luukkonen to New York and opening room in Western New York for the three-time Vezina Trophy winner. That kind of move would require more than just Luukkonen, with additional assets likely needed to balance things out. Friedman pointed to the possibility of pieces such as Radim Mrtka and/or the club’s first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft heading to Winnipeg.
That said, the whole idea depends on whether Drury sees Luukkonen as enough of an upgrade to matter. If he doesn’t, the Rangers can keep evaluating, and the market could shift quickly.
The Sabres are back on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, and another appearance from Clemmensen would only intensify the speculation.
For now, though, it still doesn’t sound like anything is close.
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Sabres Goaltending Trouble Puts A Familiar Trade Rumor Back In Play
Connor Hellebuycks situation in Winnipeg has lingered long enough to feel less like a hot rumor and more like an ongoing test of patience for everyone involved. The former Jets starter remains suspended after requesting a trade and not reporting to training camp, and while there has been plenty of outside speculation about where he might land, nothing has been completed.
For Buffalo, the timing keeps this possibility in view because the Sabres goaltending picture is unsettled, which naturally pulls attention back toward any established name who could alter it. Winnipeg, meanwhile, has opened the season well without Hellebuyck, adding another layer to a stalemate that has no easy answer and still leaves the door open to more chatter as the situation develops. [Read more 🡒]
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The Sabres injury picture got a little clearer, but not necessarily better, as Lindy Ruff laid out where several key players stand. Alex Lyon was unavailable for his season debut, so Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the start in goal, while captain Rasmus Dahlin remains day to day with an upper-body injury and winger Jason Zucker is continuing his return from surgery. Conor Timmins and Matt Grzelcyk are also working their way back, leaving Buffalo to manage yet another stretch with pieces missing from the lineup.
For a team trying to settle in early, the uncertainty around Dahlin looms largest because Buffalo has leaned so heavily on its top defenseman when healthy. The encouraging part is that Ruffs update suggested some progress across the board, but the Sabres are still waiting for those returns to translate into actual lineup stability, especially with the blue line and crease both in flux. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Face A Big Division Test In Toronto With Questions Up Front
Buffalo heads into Scotiabank Arena for its eighth game of the season with a chance to measure itself against a familiar Atlantic Division rival that sits right alongside it in the standings. The Sabres and Maple Leafs have identical records and points, which gives this one an early-season edge: it is still October, but the margin between feeling settled and chasing from behind is already thin.
For Buffalo, the bigger backdrop is what has been happening around the roster rather than just the matchup itself. The team has recent performance notes, top scorers to monitor, goalie and injury updates, and a few player milestones in the mix, all of which make this a useful test beyond the two points on the line. However it unfolds, the Sabres are going to learn plenty about where they stand in the division, and about how much they can lean on their current structure with some questions still hanging up front. [Read more 🡒]