The Buffalo Sabres enter the new NHL season with a roster that can make noise, but there isn’t much room to breathe in the Eastern Conference. That reality puts a lot of pressure on the goaltending picture, where Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis are expected to form the three-goalie rotation unless Buffalo pulls off a late blockbuster for Winnipeg Jets star Connor Hellebuyck.
Luukkonen is the place to start. The 27-year-old has been in the organization since Buffalo took him in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft, and he made his Sabres debut in April 2021. He also sounds like someone who has genuinely settled in.
"In Finland we have a saying, that it's 'people-sized,'" UPL told David Alter of The Hockey News. "It's not too big, it's calm, it's homey, you feel comfortable there.
You feel like you're in place, you feel like you have a reason to be there. It feels like a second home to me now."
The Sabres have kept giving Luukkonen chances to lock down the No. 1 job, and his results have come in waves. He posted a .910 save percentage in 2023-24 and a .909 mark last season, but those seasons were split by a rough 2024-25 campaign in which he finished at .887.
His postseason was shaky too. In six appearances during the club’s 2026 playoff run, he put up an .876 save percentage and even gave up a goal on a dump-in from center ice.
If Buffalo is going to get the most out of him, the consistency has to show up now.
There’s movement elsewhere among former Sabres names, too. Matt Savoie, once Buffalo’s No. 9 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, is headed for another setback. The Oilers said the 22-year-old forward will miss the full training camp after suffering an injury in an offseason workout, and no recovery timetable was announced.
Savoie’s path has been slower than the Sabres expected, with injuries playing a part, and Buffalo sent him to Edmonton for center Ryan McLeod in July 2024. That deal has worked out well for the Sabres.
McLeod has produced 107 points, including 34 goals and 73 assists, in 160 games over two seasons while becoming a reliable middle-six center and a key penalty-kill piece. Savoie, meanwhile, had just started to find some NHL traction late in the 2025-26 season before this latest interruption.
It’s especially frustrating because that stretch earned him looks on Edmonton’s top line with Connor McDavid.
Another former Buffalo prospect may get a fresh shot soon. PuckPedia reported that Alex Nylander is expected to sign a Professional Tryout agreement with the Calgary Flames. The 28-year-old winger, who was Buffalo’s 2016 first-round pick, is coming off a strong season with the Toronto Marlies, where he posted 53 points - 24 goals and 29 assists - in 65 regular-season games and scored the series-winning overtime goal during the team’s Calder Cup run.
Nylander never got much traction in Buffalo, where he had only six points in 19 games across parts of three seasons. Since then, he’s moved on to the Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Penguins and Blue Jackets. With Calgary rebuilding, he should at least have a real opening if he can carry that AHL production into camp.
And then there’s Rex Ryan, who was apparently one of the people caught up in Buffalo’s playoff buzz last spring. The former Bills head coach and current ESPN analyst spoke with Trainwreck Sports about the Sabres’ run, Tage Thompson and the team’s future, saying, "I thought the Sabres had a chance to win the whole damn thing," Rex Ryan
The Sabres were eventually knocked out in the second round with a Game 7 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, but Ryan’s reaction fit the way he has always embraced Buffalo. He went 15-16 over two seasons with the Bills from 2015-16 and never seemed to lose his affection for the city. Maybe he’ll be back at some point to bang the drum during the upcoming season.
In Other News...
Sabres Face One Big Hellebuyck Hurdle As Talks Heat Up
With training camp drawing closer, the Sabres flirtation with Connor Hellebuyck remains one of the more intriguing threads in the background. Reports have suggested the Winnipeg goalie would be open to a move, and Buffalo has continued to weigh what a deal might look like as it searches for stability in net and tries to judge whether Hellebuyck still fits the timeline.
The difficulty is in the details, and there are plenty of them. Talks have already run into disagreement over what Buffalo would have to send back, while the Sabres are also trying to balance the appeal of adding a proven starter against the risk that comes with his recent decline and his age. For a team looking to take a real step forward, it is the kind of swing that can reshape the roster, which is why the conversation is still alive even without a clear resolution. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Extension Puts Beck Malenstyn Under Pressure To Prove Bigger Value
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The challenge now is turning that security into something bigger. With training camp approaching and forward jobs set to be sorted out again, Malenstyn will have a chance to show he can offer more than the bottom-six profile the Sabres already know, while also strengthening his case for a heavier defensive assignment. For Buffalo, it is another one of those roster decisions where the contract is only part of the story, and the real value has to be earned on the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Suddenly Have A Long-Term Core Fans Can Dream On
Buffalos recent rise has given the franchise something it has rarely had in the modern era: a young foundation that actually looks sturdy enough to grow with. After a 50-win season and another premium draft slot in 2026, the Sabres suddenly have the kind of long-term structure that makes bigger-picture conversation feel legitimate instead of hopeful, with a deep defense group and a forward pipeline that includes names like Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Daxon Rudolph, Zach Benson and Konsta Helenius.
The blue line in particular is starting to look like the sort of unit that can carry a team through multiple seasons, and the front office has given itself more ways to keep adding talent around it. One move that helped shape that future also played a role in Buffalo landing the fourth-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and the next question is how aggressively the Sabres turn that asset into the kind of scoring help that can match the backbone they already have in place. [Read more 🡒]