NHL free agency: 3 teams that need to take advantage of the goalie market
By Jasmine Yen
1. Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have a lot of issues but many of them can be hidden with a good goaltender. They have seven free agents coming off the books this offseason which will give new general manager Kevyn Adams plenty of room to work with.
The tandem of Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark gave the team a measly .900 save percentage which is just not good enough. Ullmark was impressive with a .915 sv% but Hutton had the worst season of his career. Unfortunately for the Sabres, Ullmark is now and RFA while Hutton is under contract until 2021.
The good news is that the Sabres do have a lot of money to work with and they have the chance to fix their goaltending situation once and for all. Buffalo just needs to find a reliable goaltender to play tandem with Ullmark. If they can do this, it will help hide their defensive blemishes and give their offence a fighting chance. The Sabres have plenty of issues to address but goaltending should be their top priority.
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Ullmark has played just 97 NHL games (all with the Sabres) in five seasons and has a career .911 save percentage. Considering the team in front of him, this is quite impressive. Building a solid tandem will go a long way for this team and will help show captain Jack Eichel that real change is happening.