3 trades the Buffalo Sabres need to make this offseason

Buffalo Sabres: Trade for Alexandar Georgiev

No matter how well built a team is, any season can be sunk by poor goaltending. Since trading Ryan Miller in 2014, Buffalo has been unable to find a long term solution in net. The closest they came was with Robin Lehner, but ever since he left in free agency, the Sabres have been unable to replace him.

During the regular season the Sabres ran a goaltending duo of Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark. According to ChartingHockey, this was one of the worst goaltending duos in the league during the regular season. Even with as unimpressive as the Sabres were this season, even just a little bit better goaltending could have gotten them that extra win they would’ve needed to overtake Montreal as the 12th seed and get into the 24-team playoff format.

The Sabres have two decent goaltending prospects in Jonas Johansson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but Luukkonen is still at least a few years away from being NHL ready and Johansson doesn’t seem ready quite yet to be the guy. While the Sabres can let their goaltending progress naturally, giving Hutton and Ullmark another year while betting on young goalies is a risky venture. They’ll be getting no better in the present, and there’s no guarantee that their prospects will turn out how they expect them to at the NHL level.

The Sabres need an upgrade in net badly, but instead of over paying for a goalie like Braden Holtby in free agency, there is a much better option potentially on the trade market with Alexandar Georgiev.

Georgiev signed with the New York Rangers as an un-drafted free agent in 2017, and debuted with the team towards the end of the 2017-18 season. Starting out as a backup for Henrik Lundqvist, Georgiev quickly became a key piece for the Rangers as he helped take significant pressure off the aging Lundqvist and allow not force highly touted prospect Igor Shesterkin into the NHL before he was ready.

During the regular season, Georgiev and Lundqvist started the season as a goaltending duo, with Shesterkin joining the team in the later portion of the season. The 24-year old Georgiev stayed consistent and put up a third straight season above a .910 save percentage with 33 games played. Those numbers may seen average, but considering how many chances the Rangers defense allows, it’s amazing they haven’t driven him out of the league. Georgiev faced the eighth most expected goals against a game, while Lundqvist faced the most according to Natural Stat Trick.

It’s rare for a 24-year-old starting goalie to be available, but circumstances have perfectly aligned that has made Georgiev available. Shesterkin emerging as the team’s future starting goalie so quickly has forced the Rangers into making some decisions fast, as they cannot hold onto all three of Shesterkin, Lundqvist, and Georgiev. Shesterkin is obviously going nowhere, and it’d be a tough sell to force Lundqvist out of New York even as he declines after everything he’s done for them. As great as Georgiev has been for the Rangers, it might be better asset management to move him in return for a solid trade package.

If Georgiev is indeed the odd man out in New York, the Sabres should be all over trying to acquire him. He fits into both the current plans of competing, and their future plans of building a sustainable Stanley Cup contender.

The addition of Georgiev gives Buffalo a young, starting caliber goalie right away. He can step in as the starter, or split starts with Ullmark for the time being while being an immediate upgrade over Hutton. While Johansson and Luukkonen develop, Georgiev can help the Sabres take the step towards contention that they need in the mean time. By the time they are ready, they can be eased into the NHL and not forced into the fire. If they aren’t what the Sabres expect them to be, they’ll still have a safety net in Georgiev as he continues to grow his game and improve.

Georgiev has already proven plenty capable of handling NHL action after already being baptized by fire playing behind the Rangers’ league worst defense for three years. Playing in Buffalo would actually give him a better defense that he’s used to. The price to acquire him is also something to something the Sabres can afford to pay, with some rumors placing the price at around a second or third round plus a mid tier prospect. For young starting goalie, that is a plenty fair price.

At the end of the day, if the Sabres want to get closer to ending their nine year playoff drought then this is the kind of move they’re going to have to make. Having stability in net is a necessity for any successful team, and it’s not a coincidence that the Sabres have had none since their last playoff appearance in 2011.

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